


Story of Gine: What if Gine was sent to Raditz?

by Dauziel



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-07-31 13:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20115499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dauziel/pseuds/Dauziel
Summary: A tyrant destroys a world, fearful of an ancient prophecy.A mother is sent to her oldest son, leaving their youngest to fend for himself.Prince Vegeta expects her to be a cook, but Gine holds a forbidden knowledge about her people's destruction, and she refuses to allow the Saiyan Race die off with a whimper. Although Gine despised war, she finds a reason to train, and to fight: To protect what little the Saiyans have left, and she will not allow her son or their other companions falter.With the mother of Goku and Raditz joining the survivors of Planet Vegeta, what lays in store for the Galaxy's strongest mother?





	1. Cook to the Prince

**Author's Note:**

> I am going with the Dragonball Super: Broly movie as being canon, diverging from when Kakarot was sent off to Earth, as Gine was sent to go with Raditz.
> 
> In the movie, 2 more unnamed Saiyans were introduced with Prince Vegeta. I'm going to use them as characters, and with a blank slate to work with, here they are:
> 
> \- Shive, Nappa's Yeoman. Shive never aspired to much, until he came into Nappa's service as his assistant. Now, Shive is eager to prove himself to his hero, though it often gets him into trouble by biting off more than he can chew.  
\- Meys, Nappa's bodyguard. Not that Nappa needs one, but Meys's job was to fend off annoying low-powered opponents not worth Nappa's time. He's bolder and full of bravado, and not particularly bright.  


“Where’s Raditz?”

“Offworld. He’s in the military now, teamed up with Prince Vegeta on some planet. I seriously doubt they’ll make it back for this.”

“Wow Prince Vegeta, huh? I wouldn’t want to be stuck on a ship with that one.”

_ Stuck on a ship with Vegeta. _

Gine clenched her teeth, gripping her glove as tight as she could; it was the only thing she had with her in the pod she could hold. Why couldn’t she have gone with Kakarot? Why couldn’t so go to Urth with him?

She had watched the destruction of Planet Vegeta from the pod. She had watched as her boy, her secondborn, the little child of a power level of just five, fly off in the opposite direction. Kakarot would be on his own, with nobody to remind him of his family, nobody to anchor him to his people, with no knowledge of his legacy as a Saiyan...Would he be strong enough to survive on his own?

_ He has to be. He has to be smart, strong, and clever. Like his father, _ Gine told herself. A lump formed in her throat at the thought of Bardock, who had sent Kakarot off to Urth without her. Who had run off to fight Frieza on his own. Was he strong? He was a low-class warrior, respected by none. Was he smart? He had run of and gotten himself killed; he’d done nothing to save their people.

What did that leave her as? A washout warrior, good for nothing more than cooking, cleaning, and chasing after children. She was pathetic, and her only hope was that Prince Vegeta would be hungrier than he was arrogant. Given what she had heard, however, an appetite greater than the Prince’s pride would be truly insatiable.

And what about Raditz? What would the Prince, or his brutish bodyguard, Nappa, say about his mother coming to them? They would see him as even weaker, when Raditz already struggles to garner true strength like a real warrior. Raditz’s mother, come to protect him from across the galaxy.

The Frieza Force itself, as well, would want to know why Gine had left Vegeta just before it was destroyed. Would they assassinate her? She knew that Frieza had destroyed the planet, not a meteor like the intelligence feed was stating. They’d surely come for her, one way or another. Even if Vegeta chose to protect her, he couldn’t be there all the time.

There was a sick twisting feeling in her stomach, and she ripped the glove in two.

She would have to stand on her own.

She would have to be a fighter again.

And Raditz could not afford to be weak.

Gine curled up, took a breath, and began to think about her time as a warrior. Her sparring. The things Bardock tried to drill into her. What was it that he had said? What were those lessons? She would have to learn them all over again…

She hated Bardock for sending her away from Kakarot, and her heart ached as she thought of him, wishing nothing more than to be cradled in his arms, one last time...Should she have stayed?

The sound of Kakarot’s cries rang in her ears. No. She would be strong. Kakarot needed her. Raditz needed her. Hell, even Vegeta needed her.

She would  _ not _ be weak. She would  _ not _ be a liability.

And she  _ will _ have her revenge on Frieza.

Her pod touched down at the landing zone, and hissed open; she stepped outside, still groggy from the hibernation. Immediately, Gine let out a stretch and yawn, and looked about; the vegetation was a blue-green, with the trees having short, stubby branches. Gine yawned a second time as she looked about the camp; there were a handful of other Saiyans gawking at her with their mouths open.

“Uh...Hello...Um…” Gine’s bravado from the beginning of her trip slipped away as she raced to think of what to say, “I’m, uh...Here to be Prince Vegeta’s cook!”

“Y-You’re a Saiyan!” one of them stammered. 

Gine put her fists on her hips and scowled, “No, I’m from Yardrat. Of course I’m a Saiyan. Where is the Prince and the General?”

“Wh-what happened, how are you here?” the Saiyan demanded, taking a step toward her, and she hopped off the door of her pod. A lie formed in Gine’s mind, one that might help her, and her son, keep their heads.

“I took my pod, obviously. General Cubeb decided I’d be a nice gift for the Prince, since it was on the way for us on the way back to Planet Vegeta. He thought the Prince would appreciate someone who can cook anything!” Gine held up her bicep, flexing it and smiling at the Saiyan, “Besides, I wanted to see my son before we went back, surprise his father with a little reunion.”

“You haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?” Gine cocked her head to the side and giving him a confused look.

“Planet Vegeta was struck by a meteor! Everyone on the planet was killed, even the King and General Cubeb! The Saiyans...They’re all gone!” the warrior told her.

It wasn’t hard for Gine to feign shock as she held her ungloved hand to her mouth; it was still too much for her to really accept, “But...My husband, we were...My son...My other son was on Vegeta! There HAS to be survivors, someone who got away!”

“We’ve been trying to get ahold of someone, but…” the Saiyan shook his head, “As far as we can tell, we’re all that’s left…”

Gine slumped down to the ground. Bardock’s last words to her rang in her ears.

_ “Never forget me, Gine.” _

“Bastard…” she mumbled.

“Who is this?” a child called out.

“MOTHER!” Raditz shrieked, flying straight over to her. She caught her oldest son in her arms, and she squeezed him tight, the familiar smell of his long hair reminding her not all was lost.

“Oh, Raditz, you’re okay!” she sobbed, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Ugh,” Prince Vegeta coughed, “Who is this, Raditz?”

Raditz let Gine go, and turned to his companion, “This is my mother, Gine. Mother, what are you doing here? I thought you were on Vegeta?”

“No, I took a last minute job with General Cubeb, and he sent me here to be the Prince’s cook while he’s on assignment, before headed back...Back to…” Gine clenched her fist, swallowed the feeling in her throat, and kept a gaze, “Back to Planet Vegeta. But they just told me what happened. I had no idea, Raditz...Your brother, and your father…”

“Mother, it’s all right. Father sent me a message, Kakarot was chosen for a mission, just before everything happened! He was sent to some place, some backwater world, what was it, um..E-arth?” Raditz said.

“A cook, eh?” Vegeta said

Gine stood, and bowed to the Prince, “Yes, my Prince. General Cubeb sent me as a sort of gift to you. I’m to prepare all your meals, to the greatest extent of my abilities, as long as you wish for me to serve. I also have served as a warrior in the Army. Given the circumstances, I’m more than happy to offer my loyalty, and that of my son, Raditz, to your service, for the glory and pride of the Saiyan Race.”

“Hmph. Well, get to cooking, woman, I’m hungry,” Vegeta said, waving his hand.

“Of course, Prince Vegeta, I will begin at once. You! Where’s the food?” Gine pointed to one of the Saiyan warriors.

“Hey, you can’t order me around!”

“I can and will if you want to eat! Now where’s the food?”

“Oh, you-”

“Answer the woman!” Prince Vegeta ordered, and the warrior let out a yelp.

“Um, it’s over here!” he ran over to the pile of fruit and alien bodies that had been accumulated. Just a pile of corpses and some fruit dumped on the ground, for shame. The aliens surely had kitchens they could have used some of their materials. It would be a chore to rig something up.

“Wow, this is gonna be great! Vegeta, you won’t regret taking on my mom, she’s the best cook on the-Erm...Was the best cook among all the Saiyans. Is? This is gonna be weird,” Raditz insisted to the Prince.

“She’d better. I’m hungry,” Vegeta huffed, and he went to brood over on a stump.

“Raditz, come here,” Gine called over, and he floated over. At first he was grinning at the sight of her, but when he saw her expression, it quickly faded.

“Hey, Mom, it’s going to be okay. We’re together now, we’ll-”

“We won’t have time for that, Raditz. We’re going to have to be strong. Strong together,” she muttered to him, “Vegeta’s not going to tolerate any weakness.”

“M-mom? What-”

“We’re going to finish this mission, and then we’re going to train. You, me, Nappa, Vegeta, and these other Saiyans. We’re all we have left. We  _ have _ to stick together, do you understand me, Raditz?”

“Yeah, of course, but I thought-”

“Don’t let anything on. I’m just your cook mother, as far as anyone else is concerned. Do you understand me?”

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“Good. Now get a fire started, with a spit, and carve me some bowls, I have to marinate this meat and get the Prince something to eat as soon as I can.”

“You got it!” he darted off to get some wood. Gine allowed herself to smile; Raditz loved helping her cook, and helping Bardock with his technical experiments. The boy was a born technician and a talented cook in his own right, but Saiyans don’t put any value on anything other than fighting. And Raditz hated to lose, or be seen as lesser, so he didn’t let on that he actually loved this sort of thing. Raditz was so excited to help, though, so excited to see her, that he’d forgotten to act disdainfully at the idea of helping her.

After about twenty minutes of cooking, the Prince called out, “What’s taking so long, cook? I thought you were the best! Why shouldn’t I just eat my fill now with what’s in the food pile? Well? I’m hungry!”

“Of course, my prince, just a moment longer,” Gine studied the alien stomach she’d been cooking, held up above the fire and lightly cooked. A metal funnel made from the alien warriors’ weapons caught the juice and grease dripping off the stomach, which she took out of the fire, along with the stomach, and drizzled the grease back into the stomach, which was filled with fruits, nuts, and plants that had been taken from the aliens or gathered by the Saiyans.

“I have an appetizer for you, my Prince. Something to hold you over until the full roast is done,” she presented it to him, “It’s a stuffed stomach, lightly roasted, with fruits and vegetables. Highly nutritious and delicious, fit for a warrior and Prince like yourself.”

Vegeta snatched the stomach from her hands, and held it up to eat it.

“Ah-ah, my Prince; you’ll want to eat it one bite at a time. It’s richer than it looks, and you’ll want to savor it,” she insisted.

Vegeta scowled at her, and instead of eating the whole thing all at once, followed her advice, and ate it from the top down. After the first bite he paused, looked her up and down, and chewed slowly. Gine grinned at him.

“How is it, my Prince?”

“This will do. Go back to cooking, I’m still going to be hungry.”

“Of course, my Prince.”

Gine returned to the cooking pits; the smell of food had incentivized the rest of the Saiyans to pitch in at least a little bit of help, and now she and Raditz were able to cook several of the aliens all at once. All the Saiyans were watching and smelling in awe as the mother and son went about preparing their feast.

“If we had time I’d have brewed some wine, but juice will have to do,” Gine said, taking some of the alien peaches that she was using as the flavor for basically everything she had, “Find a water container, and mix water and the juice. Three parts juice, one part water, don’t be afraid of pulp, okay?”

“Got it!”

Within the next hour, Gine presented Prince Vegeta and General Nappa with another round of stuffed stomachs, and the other Saiyans got flavored and cubed meat, while she prepped some impromptu grounded meat, with some eggs, and made a sort of pork-and-egg dinner, spiced with some local mushroom, followed by the full roast, which had a peach sauce cooked into it. It wasn’t Gine’s best work, but she was proud of it given what she had to work with, and there would be plenty more for the days to come with what she’d cooked.

She and the Saiyans feasted that night. For the first time since they’d heard the news of their people’s doom, they felt normal, even a little bit happy, even if it was just from a bit of food. Gine ate as she watched and listened to the Saiyan warrior exchange stories of their victories. A part of her realized that she’d missed this.

“Hey, Gine, was it?”

“Huh?” she looked over, and then up, at the massive General Nappa, “Yes, that’s my name. What can I do for you, General?”

“You already have. Thank you for this. We all needed this after what happened.”

She smiled, “Just doing my job, General. The last thing these Saiyans, or the Prince, needs is an empty stomach.”

“Of course. Feels good to have something real to eat.”

“General?”

“Hmm?”

“Could I ask you a favor?”

“What is it?”

“Train me and Raditz. He needs...A drive, and we need him to be strong. I need to be strong. More than just a cook. We can’t afford to be weak. Not anymore.”

General Nappa held up the leg of the alien warrior he was eating, “Keep cooking like this, and you’ve got a deal.”

“Deal.”


	2. Just One Punch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nappa's sparring with Raditz gets too intense for Gine's liking; Shive gets in trouble.

Gine held the cold pack against Raditz’s face as he stared down the grinning Nappa. The boy was barely able to stand, and he had a rasp that Gine wasn’t particularly happy to hear, but it was most of her strength to prevent Raditz from flying away.

“He’s...So strong..” Raditz wheezed.

“So will you,” she insisted, lifting the cold pack, and poking the injury. He winced; his eye wasn’t going to open until the swelling went down all the way, “You need to keep at it.”

“I can’t beat him, mother…”

“You’re not supposed to,” she told him, applying a bit of glue to an open wound on his cheek, “You’re supposed to attack him, and pay attention. Figure out  _ why _ he’s beating you, and learn from it. Or, just take the boost, and try again, until you don’t need me to stitch you up anymore.”

“What? That’s-that’s madness!” he insisted, “There’s no way I can beat him! I don’t want to get the crap beaten out of me every time I need to train!”

Gine pressed her finger against the swelled eye, causing him to gasp and flinch away from the pain, but she held him down, “You will attack him, Raditz, because you need to get stronger. Take the pain. Fight through it. We’ll find a way for it to click, we’ll make a warrior out of you. But until then, you keep attacking him. You keep trying.”

“But-”

“No excuses, Raditz. He won’t accept any, neither will Vegeta, and certainly not Lord Frieza. So I can’t accept it from you, either,” Gine told him. She held up his chin, “Tell you what, Raditz. You land a punch on General Nappa, no matter how much he beats you, just one punch, and I’ll cook you a liver sausage. Nothing for anyone else, not even the Prince. All for you, okay? Land a punch for me.”

Raditz’s eye lit up at the mention of his favorite treat, and he nodded, “I’ll get him!”

“Do it, Raditz!” Gine cheered as he flew off his stool, straight at Nappa. Gine held back the cringe as Nappa began to beat on the poor boy; Raditz was too slow, too unfocused, and just couldn’t understand how to coordinate his body. He had powerful Ki blasts, but Raditz was so afraid of failure. Getting a daily beating for almost two years probably didn’t reassure him.

Gine stepped into the next training room, where her own failure awaited her: A Saibaman, grown just for her to fight. The other Saiyans were sparring in the same room, and Gine braced herself for the insults as she approached the creature.

“Ready to get tossed by the salad again, Gine?”

“Remember, you gotta kill it, not prune it! It’s a Saibman, not a flower!”

Gine charged at it. The creature had so little sense of self-preservation that it just attacked, taking her blows and smacking her with its blunt claws.

“Remember, you’re supposed to punch it, not massage it!”

She hated this.

“Don’t want it to  _ photosynthesize _ at you!”

Fighting made no sense to her.

“Watch out for its roots, they might grow a bit!”

They were parasites, taking from others.

“I think I see an ant munching on it! Watch out, it might kill the Saibaman first!”

Why was she fighting again? Why was she letting Raditz get tortured?

Gine landed a punch, blasting through the Saibaman’s head, leaving a green goo on her fist. The creature twitched, grasping for the brain that was no longer there, and fell to the ground. Raditz’s screams of pain and surprise as Nappa beat him around rang in her ears.

“Woah, she actually did it!”

“Pfft. Finally.”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Gine roared, and she flew straight at the wall dividing the sparring rooms.

“What the-” Nappa managed to stammer just before Gine’s fist collided with his jaw.

“I’m not going to let you torture my son any longer! He’s not learning a damn thing, he’s just getting more bruises! I told you I wanted you to teach him how to fight, not just beat the tar out of him!” Gine growled as she threw a flurry of punches on him, “I need my son to be a warrior, not a punching bag, you half-minded brute!”

Nappa was caught off-guard at first by the sudden attack, but quickly turned into a defensive posture, and began taking her strikes on his arms, before rearing his head back and smashing his head against hers, sending her across the room.

“HEY! DON’T HURT MY MOTHER!” Raditz screamed, and he bolted off the ground, fist-first, but Nappa caught the attack, and slammed him against the wall.

Gine charged straight at Nappa, firing a Ki blast, which Nappa blocked easily, but took a blow to the stomach.

“You want to see what a warrior looks like?” Nappa took in a sharp breath, and landed a bunch against her side, sending her into the wall, too, “I’ll show you what a Saiyan warrior really looks like. Raditz fired a series of Ki blasts, but Nappa just ignored them entirely; the boy was already exhausted and beaten. Gine began to kick at Nappa, but he simply ducked out of range of each blow, keeping his eyes on Gine.

“Your son’s pathetic. You’re pathetic. I can make him stronger, but he’ll never be a real warrior. Neither of you have the will, the strength, or the pride to fight like a real Saiyan. We’ll get some use out of the two of you, but-”

Gine lined up her hands together, and struck Nappa in the chest with her own Ki blast; this one actually sent him back a step, and she followed up with a gut punch. The first punch hit, but he caught her wrist on the second attempt.

“All right, that was a good hit,” Nappa admitted, and punched Gine in the head, knocking her out. Raditz flew at Nappa’s head, but the bigger Saiyan ducked underneath, and jumped up, striking Raditz in the chest and implanting him in the ceiling.

Nappa looked down at the unconscious Gine, up at the groaning Raditz, and over at the hole she had put through the wall.

“Looks like you’ve got a fighting spirit after all,” Nappa chuckled, peeling Raditz out of the ceiling and letting him fall to the ground. The boy would get a decent boost from this, and Gine had just discovered she actually had power.

Maybe she was right, though. If Raditz had the kind of power Gine was just able to bring, maybe it was just a matter of time until he tapped into it. The boy would need more than just the standard beat-until-tough.

Nappa touched his chest, where Gine had blasted and punched him, only to realize there was a hole in his armor; she’d blown straight through it, and his chest was starting to redden; he was going to bruise there. A grin stretched across his face. Yeah. These two were holding out on him. He was going to have to give them the real stuff.

“General Nappa, are you-”

“Who said you could stop sparring?” Nappa asked the Saiyan, and the Saiyan let out a yelp, and went back to his routine with his partner. A Frieza Force technician entered, and gawked at the damage.

“N-Nappa, what-What happened? The training room, it’s...Destroyed!”

“Just got a little rough is all,” Nappa waved them away, “Don’t worry about it.”

Nappa ignored the technician, who went about inspecting the damage. Nappa shook Gine, until she stirred and opened her eyes.

“Wh-what?”

“You’ve got a hell of a temper,” Nappa chuckled, “I’m going to have to watch out for it in the future.”

“Did-did we win?” Raditz asked. The technician was groaning at the hole in the wall.

“Nope,” Nappa said, “Good try, though. I’m hungry, though, and you  _ know _ that the Prince will be. So get up. You need to get cooking.”

“Ugh…” Gine pushed herself off the ground, “Yes, General…”

The technician gestured to the Saibaman, “Oh no, it’s everywhere!”

“And tomorrow? We train again. Real training. Both of you,” Nappa said, “You’ll do more than punch through a Saibaman’s head when I’m done. Mark my words.”

“Wait-how did you put a hole  _ in the ceiling?  _ What kind of training IS this?” the technician demanded.

“Good training. Now shut up and get fixing. We’re doing this again tomorrow,” Nappa instructed them. Gine rediscovered her balance, and started to limp out of the room.

“And Gine?” Nappa called out.

“Hyngh?”

“I’m going to expect even more. Every day.”

“Yeah, all right…” she dragged herself out of the training room, with Raditz at her heel. The technician looked at the Raditz-shaped dent in the wall, and did a double-take at Raditz.

“Wait, isn’t he a child?”

Nappa ignored him, stepping through the wall to observe the drills being done by the other Saiyan warriors.

“Weakling,” Vegeta hissed.

“Please! Vegeta, help!” the Saiyan gasped, but the Prince rolled his eyes as the other members of the Frieza Force continued to kick the poor warrior on the ground. The man coughed blood as the soldiers hit him in the stomach.

“Are we seriously going to let this happen, Prince Vegeta? Just let them kill him like that?” Nappa asked.

“If he can’t finish a fight, he shouldn’t start it. Besides, he deserves it for being so pathetic. If he’s so weak he can’t take on these losers, he’s no Saiyan worth having,” Vegeta said, turning away. Nappa and the other three Saiyans watched. Gine clenched her fists, while Raditz watched Vegeta start to walk out of the cantine.

“We’re getting involved,” Gine told Raditz, stepping forward.

“But Prince Vegeta said-”

“We’re all that we have left,” Gine reminded him, “And  _ we’re _ not Prince Vegeta. Are you in, or do I have to remind you what a Saiyan really looks like?”

Raditz looked back at Vegeta, and then to his mother, and nodded. Gine approached the thugs with Raditz at her side.

“Enough!” Gine shouted, stepping towards the thugs; the beating continued. Gine raised her hand, and fired a blast at one of their heads, “ _ I said enough! _ ”

The thugs turned to her, and their victim took the moment to cringe at the pain.

“You want what he’s having, lady? Because you’re fixing to get some for that.”

“That man is a Saiyan warrior. A veteran of more campaigns than you’ll ever see. You’re cowards to gang up on him and you’re going to pay for that. But I’ll let you walk away bruise-free, right now,” Gine warned, “But it’s a one-time offer.”

“Eat laser!” the soldier shouted, holding up a pistol, but Raditz was on him as Gine dodged the shot. She used the momentum to attack the man standing beside the shooter, while Raditz started to strike the shooter where he was unarmored.

Nappa crossed his arms and watched; they’d only been training under him, really training, mind, for about a month, and the mother and son duo were showing their stuff.

“I thought I said to leave the weakling to die?” Vegeta said, returning to Nappa’s side once the fight started.

“Well, it might be beneath you, but not them,” Nappa said, gesturing to them, “Besides, they need the practice.”

“Hmph.”

Raditz and Gine grabbed the heads of the last two goons, and smashed them together, knocking them out. Gine dusted her hands off, standing above the bodies. She looked around at the audience of the cantine.

“This man is a Saiyan. We are the greatest in the Galaxy, and to attack one of us, is an attack on our pride. If you think you’re bad enough to take on all of us, go right ahead. But we won’t suffer cowards that jump a fighter in a gang. You’re supposed to be soldiers of the Frieza Force. Pathetic,” Gine told the room, and she kicked the soldier that had shot at her, breaking his back with a sickening ‘crack.’

Gine knelt down, and picked up the wounded Saiyan.

“I said to leave him,” Vegeta said to Gine.

“My Prince, you gave no such order,” Gine’s tone changed to placate him, “You merely said that he deserved his fate.”

“We have no room for weaklings.”

Gine looked over to the pile of writhing Frieza Force soldiers, and then back to Vegeta, “Certainly no room for that bunch.”

“You’re starting to get cocky. Remember what you are,  _ cook. _ ”

“Of course, my Prince. You won’t be disappointed with tonight’s meal, I promise.”

“Hmph,” Vegeta grunted as he turned and left. Nappa tapped his bicep.

“We can’t afford to be making enemies of Frieza’s soldiers,” he told her.

“We can’t afford to be losing more Saiyans, either,” Gine gestured to the man she was carrying, “And I think the soldiers of the Frieza Force have made up their minds about us already. So given the choice, I think I’ll stick with my own people, Nappa.”

Nappa grinned, “Fine. But don’t think this has done anything to show you’ve gotten strong. You’re still beneath the Prince’s notice, as far as he’s concerned.”

Gine looked Nappa up and down, and took a breath, “Thank you, General, for your training. Tomorrow, Raditz will finally land a punch on you. And I will give you a gift for helping us. After dinner, see me in my kitchen. In the meantime, I’m bringing Shive to the healing pod.”

Nappa watched them go as Raditz kept to her heel; he glanced back at Nappa as they went through the door.

“Why did we save him?” Raditz asked, “He’s weak.”

“So are you. But you can’t get better if you’re dead, Raditz. We’re all that’s left. We have to survive. We have to stand together. Vegeta might go on about pride, and that Shive’s failure is an insult to Saiyan pride, but the truth is, letting Shive die tells everyone that Saiyans won’t lift a finger for each other. We can’t  _ afford _ to let any of us fail, because letting an insult like killing a Saiyan stand  _ is _ the true insult to our pride. You, me, Nappa, Vegeta, even Shive. We  _ are _ our pride.  _ We _ are what we fight for.  _ They _ are why we get stronger.”

“I thought you didn’t like fighting?”

Gine was silent for a moment, “I didn’t. Because we were selfish. I didn’t like the way we fought, or the reason we fought, before we lost our people. I could afford to be a cook, because others were strong enough without me. But we can’t do that anymore, Raditz. Even the least of us, losing one of us is a loss to everything we stand.”

She looked down to Raditz, “Remember that. Even if Prince Vegeta doesn’t. We’re greater together. Don’t be afraid to fight for your team. For your people. Even if you don’t always like it, you fight for them.”

He nodded, “Okay, mom. You really think I’ll land that punch tomorrow?”

“You better, I already promised Nappa it would happen. If you don’t, I’m giving  _ him _ your sausage.”

“WHAT? No! It’s mine!”

“Well then you’d better punch Nappa tomorrow.”

Gine bit down on the bone, and spit out the end. With her hand, she crushed the other end, and began to suck, the marrow rolling out of the bone and into her mouth. She savored the taste for a moment, before letting it roll down her throat. She enjoyed little moments like this, eating her own food alone, getting the chance to enjoy it without worrying what others thought. Normally she ate with the others, but she didn’t want to listen to Prince Vegeta grill her about saving Shive. She licked her fingers, letting the spice of the sauce build up in her mouth so she could delight in every flavor and burn alike.

Damn she was good.

Someone knocked on the kitchen door.

“Who is it?” she demanded. Nappa entered without answering, and she relaxed. She really didn’t want to talk to any of the other Saiyans right now, not even Raditz, really.

“Well, according to Prince Vegeta, that was the worst meal he’s ever had. He should know, he ate so much of it. Raditz sure enjoyed that sausage you gave him, though. You said you had something for me, Gine?”

“Oh, yes,” she stood, and placed the stool upon she was sitting in the center of the room, “Sit.”

“What is this?”

“Sit!” she pointed at the stool.

He sat, facing the opposite wall. Gine went over to her utensils, and considered which one would be best for what she had in mind.

“So what do you have for me that requires me to sit down? You could just give me the box right now or whatever.”

Gine pulled her chosen knife out of its sheath, and grabbed a small cloth, “Oh, this is a favor, Nappa. One I’ve been meaning to give to you for a while.”

“A favor? I’m a simple man, Gine, I don’t need much.”

“You’ve had this coming. Now, close your eyes, and keep  _ perfectly _ still.”

Nappa straightened his back, closed his eyes, and held still. Gine held up the cloth, and dropped it straight on his head.

“Wh-that’s warm!”

“ _ Hold still!” _ she hissed.

“Gine! What are you doing to me?!”

She rubbed the towelette on his head, smearing the substance that had been heating on it. Once she’d gotten it all over Nappa’s head, she held up the knife, pressed it against his scalp...And  _ carefully _ drew it towards her, repeating the strokes, and trying to hold Nappa still when he shuddered as the knife was raked against his skin.

It was all over in a few minutes, goo and hair all over the floor. Gine took a fresh cloth, and wiped down operation location.

“There. All done.”

“What  _ was _ that? What’ve you done to my precious hair?” Nappa demanded, and she handed him a mirror.

“I killed that awful shrub on your head that you called hair. I cringed every time I looked at it,” Gine explained, “Now, you look like nothing will stand in your way. You look like a  _ badass. _ A bald, beautiful badass.”

“You think I’m beautiful?”

She patted him on the cheek just hard enough for it to sting, “Stay focused, Nappa. Doesn’t that look better?”

Nappa looked over his face and head from every angle he could reach. She took the mirror from him, and showed him a few more.

“Yeah. You’re right, I should have done this  _ years _ ago.”

“There. I think I’ve earned your trust now, haven’t I?” Gine threw the washing towelette on his face, “Best favor for you I could think of, as thanks for training us.”

“Well we couldn’t have you or Raditz dragging us down.”

Gine opened the door for Nappa, “Well it’s the least you could do for torturing that poor creature you let live on the top of your head. Now that I’ve killed it for you, we’re even. Now, out, I’ve got to clean the kitchen.”

Nappa smiled at her as he left; he jumped and his tail bushed when she slammed the door behind him.


	3. By the Moons of Old Sadala

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gine has to save the Low-Class Saiyans, and gains the notice of Lord Frieza.

“We’ve been here for a day and a half, and all you’ve done is _ cook. _”

“I _ am _ your personal chef, Prince Vegeta,” Gine pointed out, not even turning to look at him while she basted.

“You’re a Saiyan Warrior, Gine. Here we are on a battlefield, surrounded by fights, and all you’re doing is _ cooking? _What’s _ wrong _ with you? Where’s your _ pride? _” he demanded. Gine spun about, and shoved the spoon she was holding into his mouth; he let out a quiet yelp when she did so.

“At the tip of this spoon,” Gine said, “Doing something I love, for the greatest warriors in the galaxy, including my son. If you are displeased with my service, Prince Vegeta, you need only say the word.”

Vegeta took the spoon, scraping the sauce off it while he considered Gine. She’d served with him for ten years now, and he still didn’t know what to think of her.

“The only time I’ve seen you fight in real battles is when one of the weaklings gets themselves into trouble, and they go crying to the woman. You’re making them weak.”

“Well they can’t get stronger if they’re dead,” Gine pointed out, “Would you rather be surrounded by Saiyans or corpses?”

“Better the corpses of the weak than the whining of the pathetic,” Vegeta said, “Your son went to go rescue those other fools who went to attack the Gellow High Command. I’d say they’re being torn apart right now by the Gellow’s defenses. We’ll see which ones of them are stupid enough to get themselves killed, won’t we?”

Gine stabbed the baster into the meat, and started to float.

“What about my dinner? I thought you were just my cook!”

“It’ll keep until I get back!” she snarled at him, flying off to the nearest power levels.

“You-You’re Saiyans! Why? Why come here? We’re no threat to you!” the Gellow commander pleaded. Gine wanted to just let him go. This fight was pointless, just a bit of money from the Frieza Force for subjugating this place, and not even all that much. She didn’t care about the money. She looked over her shoulder at the devastation they’d left behind. It had been exhilarating, sure. But the purpose to it all? The reason they were here? It was hollow.

Her eyes fell upon the Saiyans she had saved: Shive, Meys, and of course, her son Raditz. They were beaten, burned, and blasted, but they stood tall, together, before their now-defeated enemies. She turned back to the Gellow.

“And now you never will be,” she told him flatly, “Now, I’m _ really _ hungry, and if _ I’m _ hungry, then _ Prince Vegeta _ is hungry. Which means I’m not in the mood to chat, and you don’t have a lot of time before he gets angry, and trust me, you do _ not _ want to deal with a hungry Vegeta. So why don’t you declare your surrender to Lord Frieza, and our leader won’t have to come over _ in search of a meal _, got it?”

The commander nodded.

“Good. Glad we understand each other.”

As they were flying back, Shive flew up to her.

“Thank you for the save, Gine-erm, again.”

“You all almost died.”

“Eh-yeah, so thank-”

“I cannot come to save all of you. I am _ the cook _.”

“We thought the Prince would cover our attack! He would take out the defenses while we rushed the soldiers! It was supposed to be a coordinated assault! Just like Nappa taught us! None of us are strong enough to take out those guns, we needed help!” Shive insisted.

“I was going to, but I took a hit,” Raditz pulled at the hole in his armor, “If you hadn’t arrived, mother…”

“Prince Vegeta will not help you,” Gine said, coming to a stop, “He cannot be relied upon. You need to stop thinking of him as your leader, because he expects you to do everything yourselves. He expects you to be powerful enough to blow those guns without his help, because if you need it, you’re too weak for him to care.”

“But-that’s how it’s _ done! _ It’s how we were _ trained _, to work as a team!” Shive said, “Taking out powerful targets like those gun emplacements is what High-Class Warriors are supposed to do! That’s their tactical application, it’s been that way since we conquered the Tuffles.”

“I didn’t say he was right, I said that’s what he expects. These things come effortlessly to Vegeta, and he expects _ everything _ to be like that. The rest of us? We’ve got to work for it, and he _ will not have our backs, _ do you understand me? And _ I _ cannot fight your battles for you when you get into trouble.”

The Saiyans exchanged glances.

“If Nappa and Vegeta aren’t going to do their jobs, what do we need them for? Us _ low-class _ warriors just took that fortress, and we were _ led by a cook. _ We don’t _ need _ them if they’re going to refuse to play their part and get us all killed,” Meys said, “I say we turn in this planet, collect the reward for ourselves, and start running our own missions. The Saiyan Squad! Let Vegeta and Nappa have fun on their own if they’re going to leave us out to dry to do this ourselves!”

Gine glanced at Raditz, who was keeping his mouth firmly shut through all this. She gestured with her head towards Meys, and Raditz nodded. He floated over to Meys, and head-butted the other Saiyan on the forehead.

“I do not care about High Class or Low Class. We are the last of the Saiyans. Our lot in life _ sucks. _ I am not a warrior. I am a cook. I am a mother. Those are the things I love. But until we are powerful enough to earn the things we want, for the things we love, we fight. We train. We stick together. If Nappa and Vegeta are going to disregard us because they think we’re worthless, we prove them wrong, because if we drift apart, _ we go extinct. _ I have _ no intention _ of going extinct, so you will fall in line, you will get more powerful, and next time, _ you will blow up those guns yourselves _ . Not because of what _ should _ happen, but because if you don’t, _ we all die. _”

She glared at them; their heads were hanging in shame. She sighed, “Vegeta is right, you do need pride. Being told you need something isn’t the same as getting it. We are stronger together. Earn that pride. Fight harder. We’re Saiyans. We’ll learn what that means. But it won’t matter if we perish.”

“I’m proud to follow you, Lady Gine,” Meys shouted, rubbing his head.

“You were there for us when Vegeta wasn’t, you and Raditz!” Shive said, “I’ll take you over the Royal Brat any time.”

“We’ll stick with Nappa and Vegeta, but as far as I’m concerned, _ you’re _ our leader.”

_ Oh by the Moons of Old Sadala this is the last thing I want, _ Gine groaned to herself. The Saiyans were both saluting her.

“I. Am. _ The. Cook, _” Gine hissed.

“And you saved our lives,” Meys said.

“We’ll cover for you, mother,” Raditz said, “We’ll go back, and take Vegeta’s anger, and finish the cooking, and we’ll celebrate our victory. We’ll have to cheer Vegeta, but our toasts will be to you.”

Gine never missed Bardock more than that moment.

Kneeling for extended periods of time was not good exercise. It was just uncomfortable. But when expecting to be in the audience of the Emperor Frieza, you knelt as long as it took for him to deign to appear.

And so they knelt.

For five hours.

While Dodoria snickered and watched them squirm.

Finally, an Elite Guard appeared, “Presenting his eminence, Lord Frieza!”

The Emperor floated in on his hover-chair, a smirk on his face as he glanced over the lot of them. None of the Saiyans dared even twitch until spoken to. Gine took heavy breaths; she tried to not think about the fact this was the slime that killed her planet.

Killed her people.

Killed her Bardock.

She started to recite recipes in her head.

“So, Vegeta, you and your monkeys took over Gellow?”

“Yes, Lord Frieza.”

“Took you long enough.”

Vegeta did not reply; he had not been asked a question. Frieza stared at the Saiyans, waiting for a reaction. Gine was too busy imagining cooking a casserole to look at the reactions of the others.

“I’m given to understand they had some powerful guns to deal with. How did you deal with them, Vegeta?”

Vegeta glanced back at the other Saiyans; they were still covered in bandages from their battle with the Gellow.

“We took them on in a coordinated head-on assault. Once the guns were destroyed, we made short work of their soldiers.”

“What’s this _ we, _ Vegeta? I was given to understand your _ low-class warriors _ did all the dirty work,” Frieza said.

“It was a simple matter to deal with, so I left it to them,” Vegeta insisted, “As you can see, it worked out.”

“Very well. So who is the hero of the hour, then, Vegeta? You’ll have to point them out, I have a hard time telling you monkeys apart.”

Vegeta froze, trying to think of the best answer.

“Lord Frieza! It was Gine who led the attack, my lord!” Meys declared. Gine suddenly stopped breathing.

_ Not. Helping. Meys. _

“And which one is this Gine?” Frieza asked. Vegeta lifted a hand, hesitated, and then gestured to Gine.

“She is the...Squad Leader of the low-class Saiyans, Lord Frieza,” Vegeta did all he could not to choke on the words.

“Wait, I was given to understand that you only had one female, and she was a cook? Tell me, Vegeta, are you sending your cook to do your job for you?” Frieza asked. There was silence, until Nappa spoke up.

“I’ve been training her, Lord Frieza, and she has proven a greater warrior than expected,” Nappa insisted, “Surely, the potential of even the lowliest Saiyan is of great worth to you, my lord.”

“A cook who can conduct war? Very interesting. You know, I’ve been wanting to taste something a bit new. I may just take her off your hands, Vegeta,” Frieza said.

Gine turned cold at the prospect.

“If that is your will, my Lord,” Vegeta said.

_ Why did he have to call Frieza’s bluff? _

“You wouldn’t want me cooking your meals, Lord Frieza,” Gine heard her say.

_ What am I doing? _

She looked up and smiled at him, “You know us Saiyans, we’ll eat just about anything we pick up off the ground. I’m sure anything I could smear onto a plate would be far beneath your grand pallete, your majesty. Really, I just roast the meat.”

The scream in Gine’s head was the loudest thing in the room.

Until Frieza burst into laughter.

“Well at least one of you monkeys knows their place!” Frieza chimed, “Good work with Gellow, Gine. You’ll receive the full payment for the takeover. I expect your next conquest to go even smoother.”

Frieza turned and left, and one of his guards left a box in the middle of the room. Shive rushed over to pick up their reward, and the Saiyans rushed out of the chambers, returning to the rooms reserved for them elsewhere in the city.

None of the Saiyans said a word on the way there. Once they arrived, Vegeta immediately went to his room. The rest of the Saiyans gave Gine nods, and they went off to their own tasks. Raditz went to his mother, but Nappa stepped in front of her, glaring.

“We need to talk.”

“You can_ not _ talk to Lord Frieza like that.”

“Why not? He laughed. Better than what the Prince managed to do.”

“Do you have ANY idea what he’ll do if we talk out of turn Make him angry? What his goons will do? Not even Prince Vegeta can match Frieza’s elites. You put us _ all _ in danger, and I won’t have that.”

“You won’t _ have _ it? The only reason any attention at all was brought onto me was because _ I _ had to save the rest of the team! If _ you _ and Vegeta had done your _ jobs _ and provided some _ support, _ I wouldn’t have had to get involved. Instead, Vegeta decided it was a better idea to taunt me about _ how my son was about to get himself killed. _”

Nappa crossed his arms, “They got themselves into that situation.”

“Because they thought they could rely on _ you. _ Instead, I had to step in. They wanted to leave you and Vegeta behind, collect the reward themselves, and split off. _ I _ talked them out of it. You’re going to be _ lucky _ if they listen to a damn thing you say, without me having to repeat it for you. If your loyalty is to Vegeta, and Vegeta alone, then as far as the rest of us are concerned, we’re separate teams. Otherwise, you need to re-earn their respect.”

“We’re the only thing keeping Frieza and his men from slaughtering us all!” Nappa said. She sucker-punched him in the chest, firmly implanting him into the wall.

“Frieza made up his mind about slaughtering us all a long time ago, Nappa!” Gine stood before him, “Nappa, we CANNOT split apart. We need each other because we are _ dead _ if we don’t stick together, if we don’t have each other’s backs.”

“Just a bunch of low-class wretches,” Nappa pulled himself out of the wall, snarling through his teeth. He grabbed her, slamming her onto the floor, and then kicked her across the room. Gine pushed herself back up to her feet, and breathed through the pain.

“You need to listen, Nappa,” she said, and fired two blasts at him. The first, he saw coming, straight to his face, and tossed it aside; it was a weak attempt, but the second was a much more powerful shot, striking him in the leg and causing him to stumble, and she kicked him in the forehead, sending him reeling back .Nappa would eventually overpower her through sheer stamina and force, but she could fight clever.

“Do you REALLY think General Cubeb sent me to be the Prince’s _ cook _ , Nappa? Did you not put two minutes of thought into that? I was _ on Planet Vegeta _ before I came to you,” Gine said, taking steps back as Nappa began to loom over her, backing her against the wall.

She winced as his arm lashed out, at first to grab her, but instead, he pressed his hand against the wall, lowered his head to be at the same level as hers. When she realized he hadn’t hit her, she regained her composure.

“What are you talking about?”

“General Cubeb didn’t send me. My husband, Bardock, did,” she said.

“Against the return order?”

“_ Because _ of the return order, Nappa. It’s why I’ve been trying to keep everyone alive. Why I asked you to train Raditz. Why _ I’ve _ been training. Nappa, I _ hate _ fighting in war. It’s _ disgusting _ and it’s pointless. Half the time it’s not even a challenge, I don’t feel like a Saiyan slaughtering people!” Gine told him. She then sucker-punched him again in the chest, sending him skidding across the room.

“You had _ better _ stop that,” he growled.

“Bardock knew that Frieza’s men were looking into old Saiyan legends, Nappa. The general return was suspicious and pointless, but nobody questioned it! So he sent me to look after our son, Raditz, while he investigated, because he believed Frieza was planning on destroying us all. Nappa, Planet Vegeta wasn’t destroyed by a meteor.

“Think about that! How would we have _ missed _ an incoming meteor, with _ every single Saiyan _ on the planet? Even if we _ did _ miss it, we had more than enough Elites and firepower to destroy such an object! To _ obliterate _ it! Think about how Frieza talked to us, talked to _ Prince Vegeta _ , just today! Nappa, I said what I did because I thought Frieza was going to kill us all. He’s already _ made up _ his mind about us, so he’s just _ toying _ with us, sending us on increasingly difficult missions until we either get ourselves killed, which means he profits, or until he gets bored and has Zarbon off us all. I’m only alive because Bardock was paranoid enough to send us off.”

Nappa grinded his teeth and paced, his head running.

“But that-”

He paced.

“It would mean-”

He paced back, then looked over his shoulder.

“I need to look into something,” he declared, and stormed out of the room. Gine slumped against the wall, and hugged her legs. A few moments later, Raditz opened the door, looking grim.

“Raditz?”

“Was it true? Everything you told Nappa?” Raditz asked.

“Oh Raditz, come here, He came over, and they embraced.

“I miss him,” Raditz said, “I miss father. I even miss the brat.”

“I miss Bardock so much. And I miss Kakarot more than anything. But remember, Kakarot is alive somewhere. And we have each other. _ This _ is why I said we need to be strong, because Frieza wants us dead, not just because we’re on our own. Raditz, you need to learn to be a leader, for the other low-class warriors. If I do it, Vegeta will see me as a threat. But you? He’ll expect you to be the dominant Saiyan of the five of you, okay?”

“Do you think I’m ready?”

“No,” she admitted, “But that doesn’t mean it’s not time, Raditz. You need to get more powerful. _ They _ need to get more powerful, okay?”

He touched his forehead to hers, “I just wanted to build scouters.”

“And _ I _ just wanted to cook,” she said, “Yet here we are.”

“I won’t fail us,” Raditz promised, “I’m earning that liver sausage again.”

Gine patted him on the cheek, and then pulled on his hand, “You know, what Raditz? It’s time you learned how to do it yourself. Come on, follow me.”

Raditz and Gine were up to their wrists in viscera when Nappa returned, looking glum and holding a datapad.

“Before you say anything, Nappa,” Gine held up a hand when Nappa began to talk, “Raditz already knows. Anything you say, you can say in front of him.”

Nappa looked at Raditz, and nodded, “Fine. But you don’t repeat a _ word _ to _ anyone. _ Not even Prince Vegeta. You take this to _ your grave _ if you have to.”

Raditz held up a bit of liver, and chopped it in half for emphasis, “To the grave.”

Nappa put the datapad on a clean counter, “I just went through some mission records from back then. Did...Did you know Bardock’s team?”

“Bardock’s Buccaneers,” Gine nodded, “I used to fight alongside them.”

“Your husband’s squad, they were recorded as KIA while on Kanassa, just hours before Vegeta was destroyed,” Nappa said, “I found records that states they managed to get one message before their time of deaths.”

Nappa rubbed his forehead, “It would have arrived just before you left the planet. Just before Dodoria would have returned from a neighboring system to Vegeta. Just in time to reunite with any...Theoretical assets that may have also been joining the general recall for a planned campaign.”

“So you’re saying that Dodoria killed Bardock’s team, but not before they sent him a warning?” Gine said, not even looking up from her cooking. Raditz crushed the knife handle he had in his hand; she simply took it from him, and handed him another, “Raditz, keep focused on what you’re doing.”

“But that _ monster _-”

“Will _ remain untouched,” _ she told him, “No matter how much it might anger you to look at him, you will do _ nothing _ to Dodoria, understand me, Raditz?”

Raditz looked back to his work, “Yes, mother.”

“You need to stay focused. Control yourself, Raditz. Dodoria’s time will come-_ when _ we’re ready,” she assured him. Once the liver was properly minced, spiced, and mixed, they filled the casing and let the sausages cook on the frying pan; there was plenty even for the three stress-eating Saiyans.

“I wish we could tell Vegeta,” Nappa confessed, “But I’m afraid what it would do to him. I think he’d fall apart. He’s already so...Isolated.”

“I’ll stick to cooking as much as I can. I already made him angry today. Raditz will act as squad leader for the others. We all need to get stronger. Stronger than Dodoria, stronger than Zarbon, than the Ginyus,” Gine said.

“Which means taking on stronger and stronger contracts,” Raditz said, a slight tightness in his voice.

“I’ll talk Vegeta into it,” Nappa said.

“I’m going to get some rest, then, if we’re going to be training as a team,” Raditz announced, taking the last piece of sausage and earning a glare from Nappa.

“Good night, Raditz,” Gine said.

“Goodnight, mother.”

Gine began to clean up her little personal kitchen they were sitting in, while Nappa poked at the bits of sausage and liquid on his plate.

“You should get some sleep, too.”

Nappa licked the juices off his fingers, and looked to Gine, “While we’re promising to keep secrets, I’ve got one more.”

She leaned over on the counter, “What’s that?”

“I’m terrified.”

Gine watched him stare off at the wall while he licked off his hands.

Nappa shook his head, “I’m terrified of Frieza, and of his men, and the idea of just...Getting killed. Without a fight. Without a _ chance _, like everyone on Planet Vegeta. Just...Fire, and then...Nothing...I know I should be disgusted by my own fear. But it’s hanging there like...Like a wall.”

Gine picked up Nappa’s plate, and placed it on the counter, then turned to him.

“I know, Nappa. I’ve felt that for the last ten years. Not just from Frieza, but from Vegeta, too. I don’t know when he’ll just...Flip and kill one of us because of the slightest failure,and none of us can control him.”

He held out his hand; she took it, “I won’t let him do that.”

“I know you’ll try,” Gine squeezed his thumb until she watched him wince, “Bardock made that promise to me.”

She pulled herself toward him.

“It wasn’t enough.”

“Together, then?”

Gine sat on his lap, and kissed him.

“Together.”


	4. Kikono

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gine receives news that puts her life in danger, but brings hope to the Saiyans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had previously mentioned there were four unnamed Saiyans. Upon review, it seems there were two; as such, only Shive and Meys will be used in the future. References to the other two have been removed.

_ One year later, age 748 (Earth Age) _

“What is that _ thing _ on your face?” Vegeta demanded, stepping out of the pod. They were on some uninhabited world known for its fearsome beasts capable of using _ ki _, and their team had been tasked with both capturing enough for breeding and studying, and otherwise wiping the creatures out. Vegeta, Nappa, and Gine had just arrived after a different mission, striking at the Galactic Patrol after they got a bit uppity.

“You like it? I grew it myself,” Meys wiggled the moustache on his face. It was a thin thing, spreading across his lip. He was working on a goatee, as well, but the two failed to meet in the middle for a fuller beard.

“It’s disgusting. Get rid of it.”

Meys crossed his arms, and lifted his chin, “Is that an order, Prince Vegeta?”

“Meys, maybe you should-” Nappa started, but Gine held his arm.

Vegeta scowled at Meys, “When your Prince tells you something, it’s Holy Writ.”

Meys shrugged, pulled out a knife, and threw it into the ground between them, “If you hate my moustache so much, shave it yourself. Otherwise, you’re the Prince of Saiyans, not moustaches.”

Vegeta looked at the knife, and then at Meys.

“All right.”

Meys let out a yelp as Vegeta charged straight at him, pulling the knife out of the ground as he flew, and tackled the Saiyan across the field. Meys tried to stand, but Vegeta was far too fast for him, and the Prince pinned Meys on the ground. Meys punched Vegeta a few times in the face and chest, but Vegeta pressed Meys’s head to the ground.

“Hold still, you don’t want me to cut you,” Vegeta warned as he brought Meys’s knife up to the Saiyan’s face, and began to slowly and carefully scrape Meys’s facial hair off.

Gine and Nappa couldn’t help but laugh as Meys let out yelps and screams while Vegeta literally shaved him in the middle of the field, in front of all the support personnel and the other Saiyans. Vegeta stabbed the knife into the ground once he was done, and stepped off Meys, who rubbed his lip, his lower lip quivering while his upper lip bled on his glove.

“There. Problem solved,” Vegeta said.

Meys stood up, wiping the blood off his shaved lip, and retrieved his knife, “You’ll have to keep at it if you want to defeat _ my _ moustache, Prince Vegeta! We won’t be defeated that easily, mark my words, one day you won’t take it from me!”

“On that day you may actually have my respect,” Vegeta sneered as he sauntered away. Meys grinned at the Prince’s back, wiped off his knife, and put it back into his holster, before floating towards Gine and Nappa.

“What was that all about?” one of the Frieza Force support personnel asked. Gine shrugged.

“Saiyan Pride. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Welcome to Nudal, General Nappa, Gine,” Meys said, “We’re all set up over that ridge.”

“What’s your progress?” Nappa asked as they began to walk with him to the base.

“We’ve got all the subjects the eggheads wanted already, and they tell us we’ve got the beasts sixty-percent wiped out in the wild,” Meys said, “Was a bit challenging at first, but we’ve got the hang of it now. Should be done before the end of the week, I think.”

“End of the week? Why so long?” Nappa demanded. Meys shrugged.

“It’s not like we’re wiping out bases, which we can find from orbit and wipe out in a few hours and force a government into surrender. We’re hunting down critters that cover the whole planet, including their polar regions. Imagine trying to kill every grainrat on Planet Vegeta. We’ve taken to calling them Demsu. It’s kind of shame we’re wiping them out, they’d be great training for Saiyan kids to train against. Might make good pets.”

“What kids?” Nappa growled. Meys shrugged.

“Good point. Just saying, I wish we had Demsu when I was a tot,” Meys said. He punched his hand, “Might be fun to kick some ass with a little buddy following me around. Like a story, you know? A Saiyan and his pet Demsu.”

“We’ll keep it in mind, Meys,” Gine laughed. When they arrived at the home base, Gine quickly found her tent, and hung up her pack, sat on the bed, and waited, wringing her hands. It was good to see Meys in a happy mood, even after Vegeta deciding to shave his moustache. He was standing up for himself without directly challenging the Prince of Nappa, which was a good sign; she hoped this would all become a sort of good humor between the Saiyans, High and Low class.

“Gine?” Nappa called to her.

“I’m in here,” she called out, and Nappa opened the flap, a short, thin, yellow alien wearing Frieza Force armor stepping in before he did, with a smirk on his face.

“We _ cannot _ trust him,” Nappa gestured to the alien as soon as he was inside, “Why did you even contact him?”

Gine counted on her fingers, “First, because he’s the only one with the clearance to keep this quiet. Second, he knows more about Saiyans than any other scientist alive. Third, he’s far too curious to see how this plays out to say anything. Isn’t that right, Kikono?”

The alien’s grin showed his delight at the situation presented to him. Despite his being in such incredible danger, he was in full control of everything, and the Saiyans knew it.

“You’re lucky these Demsu are so interesting on their own, otherwise I probably would have just let one of my underlings handle this, and who _ knows _ who they’d talk to,” Kikono cooed.

“You’re lucky we-” Nappa started to hiss at him.

“We are grateful for your time and expertise, Doctor,” she interjected, bowing to him, “This is a great concern to me, and there are few who could have handled this.”

“Hmm, quite,” Kikono glanced up at Nappa, who was clearly holding himself back from pummeling him, “Frankly I never thought I’d be working with Saiyans again, this was a rare treat, really. I’ve studied your people for a long time.”

“The pleasure is mine, Doctor. Do you have the results?” Gine asked. Kikono handed her a datapad, which he unlocked and handed over to Gine.

“Congratulations, hormone balances tell me it’s a girl.”

Nappa’s rage was dropped instantly as he rushed over to read the datapad along with Gine. She tapped on the datapad to show where it confirmed what Kikono had just said; Nappa let out a cheer and squeezed Gine in a bear hug which she tried to squirm her way out of.

Kikono chuckled, “You Saiyans aren’t usually this sentimental.”

“Things change when your species is on the brink of extinction,” Gine took in a breath.

Kikono nodded, “That’s one way of looking at it.”

“Wait, what about a chamber?” Nappa asked, “How are we going to get our hands on one? There’s only going to be a few of them left, at least for Saiyans.”

Kikono shrugged, “I’m sure I could dig one up from storage somewhere...But it will cost you.”

Nappa clenched his fist, “What’s the price?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Gine shook her head, “Because it’s like you said, Nappa. We can’t trust him. If we take an Incubation Chamber from him, he could flush the baby at any time, without us being able to do anything. The birth of this child would be in the hands and at the whim of Lord Frieza, and I won’t have that.”

Kikono tilted his head, studying Gine carefully, and pondered what she’d said.

“Then what are we going to do for an incubation chamber? I bet Raditz could build one out of the equipment here, and then we’d have full control! We could even put it in a pod, and have it follow us through our missions, and nobody would know!” Nappa nodded, satisfied with his solution, “See? We don’t need you after all!”

“That’s not what she’s thinking,” Kikono remarked, cocking an eyebrow and standing straight, “You’re not going to use one, are you?”

Gine squeezed her glove while holding her eyes shut. She only opened her eyes to confirm that Nappa was trying to figure out what was just said, and saw the look of shock on his face appear.

“You can’t possibly mean-” he stammered.

“Think about it, Nappa,” Gine pleaded, “One way or another, Frieza is going to find out about this baby. If we have it in a Chamber, they’re going to destroy it, and if that happens, you and I, we wouldn’t stop fighting until we were killed. We’d _ all _ get wiped out trying to avenge this baby, and nobody would know why.”

“But if _ you _ carry the baby, then none of your enemies will risk taking such a bold, open move,” Kikono extrapolated, “They’ll still try, you know.”

“When they do, I’ll just kill them myself, and we’ll see just how _ committed _ my enemies are,” Gine shrugged. Kikono nodded.

“Are you sure about this? There’s a lot of different things we could do. What about...Maybe sending it to...You know…” Nappa gestured to the sky beyond the tent, avoiding the word ‘Kakarot.’ Gine nodded.

“It’s a good idea, but no. This is our baby, Nappa. Our pride, our future. This will push us, make us stronger, and we will show the whole galaxy that the Saiyans are not done yet. That we protect our own. I want to give this child what’s best, but that isn’t as clear as it was before. So I’d rather have her close at hand, where I can defend her myself, rather than relying on trickery or exile or technology,” Gine explained. Nappa rested his forehead against hers, smiling.

“Together.”

“Together.”

Kikono groaned, “Well if you insist on gestating it yourself, that gives me some opportunities to study it further. So long as you indulge me with the occasional test, Gine, you’ll have no leaks from me. Do we have a deal?”

“Nothing remote,” Gine said, “You do them in person, at _ our _ location. Raditz will assist you. You use _ no _ equipment he isn’t familiar with.”

Kikono held out his hands to placate, “All reasonable requests. Anything else?”

“No assistants, nobody knows. Not even a driver,” Gine added, “And I expect you to hold to the spirit of this agreement. I don’t want to have to list off a billion exceptions just for you to bring in a roach with a camera or something and claim innocence because I didn’t specify it.”

“On my honor, then,” Kikono bowed to her.

“As if,” Nappa muttered.

“One does not break the trust of a Saiyan. You know how we deal with slights to our pride.”

“Of course. I expect we will be on this planet for quite some time; these Demsu are far more interesting than originally thought. I think this experiment may be extended while we conduct fuller research into the ecological needs of the Demsu. We may need to extend your contract here, though I don’t think there’s any need to hold up _ all _ of your team. Consider who you can spare; I think we’ll only need three on-planet or so,” Kikono stepped towards the flap, “You should consider who would be best suited for this mission.”

Gine and Nappa exchanged glances as Kikono left; the implication was clear: Nappa wouldn’t be on-planet for the child’s arrival.

Gine, Raditz, and Meys were the ones left on the planet, dealing with the Demsu. Nappa had properly threatened Meys to protect Gine and the baby or be disintegrated; at first it had shaken Meys, but he quickly took to the idea of becoming an ‘Uncle Meys’ and, to hear him tell it, he’d planned out every milestone for his ‘niece.’

Raditz was understandably paranoid about Kikono, and quickly because the head scientist’s ‘field assistant’ on the planet. The truth was, Raditz was like his father, and was far more technically-minded than most people gave Saiyans credit for. As a result, he took to the role, building and testing his own tools for his duties, and learning the equipment Kikono was using both on the Demsu and for his fetal sister.

Gine allowed nothing to slow or stop her duties; they were here to observe and exterminate the Demsu, and even as her pregnancy became obvious, she kept pushing herself to work and train even harder. Meys was concerned about this, of course, but quickly became Raditz and Gine’s sparring partner when he decided that any alternatives were too risky. 

Kikono was only able to visit for a few days each month, assuaging fears of his trying some underhanded tactic; the three Saiyans were left to their own devices, and Raditz conducted most of the tests the scientist wanted.

As they had less than a year, only so much on the Demsu could be learned. Mostly, they were tagged and observed by drones until the scientists decided that they had enough data, at which point the three Saiyans were called in to first capture live specimens, and then wipe out packs of the creatures. There were different kinds of Demsu, with the largest being as tall at the shoulder as Gine was. These largest were omnivores, living in nomadic herds that ate anything they could dig, scavenge, or kill. The smallest were capable of both unpowered and Ki flight, and would fly straight at flying prey; these would sometimes hunt in swarms, and were the most dangerous to exterminate or capture, as they required the swarms to mate. This meant they’d had to capture hundreds of live specimens.

The Saiyans had killed off a few colonies in frustration with those.

Most Demsu, however, were no taller at the shoulder than Gine’s waist, and about the size and weight of the average Saiyan. They were capable of Ki abilities like strength boosts, speed, and ki blasts from their mouth, which they used for ranged attacks, territorial or mating fights, and even cooking their food. They were extremely intelligent, and most of the Saiyans' time was spent wiping out packs of these animals.

Kikono’s instruction to study the Demsu in greater detail made it seem, on the surface, that progress was slow, but the truth was that they were on schedule to wipe them out. The three of them were capable of wiping out entire regions of the creatures with their scouters, and the release of invasive animals made tracking down nests a non-issue: Once the parents were slain, the Demsu litters would be wiped out by creatures trained to sniff them out.

It was brutal and sickening work; Gine went to bed every night feeling like a hypocrite, no better than Frieza.

The constant fighting and hunting of the creatures had done quite well for their power, however; even Raditz was peaking a Power Level over 3,000 these days, while Meys had hit 2,000. Gine had yet to admit to Raditz that she had matched Nappa’s original 4,000, though Nappa had surpassed that to about 6,000 by pushing himself to keep ahead of her.

There was an old wive’s tale that the real reason that Saiyans had switched to Incubation Chambers was that, once Power Levels could be easily measured, they realized Saiyan women grew far more powerful after childbirth, and they simply said the reason for the switch was so that Saiyan women could keep fighting. Gine didn’t feel more powerful, just constantly having to pee and nauseous.

The first attempt on Gine was when a pen of Demsu was knocked open while the Saiyans were dragging live specimens into pens. They were some of the largest Demsu specimens they’d collected, and the creatures knocked Meys aside immediately, who had let off a yell that had warned Raditz and Gine to get out of the way. They spent the rest of the day wrangling the creatures, and only found out it was intentional when the security chief, some orange alien with big eyes named Lemo, told them what he’d discovered during his investigation. Raditz accepted Lemo’s offer to take the life of the criminal by feeding the perpetrator to the same Demsu the alien had released.

The second attempt was more overt; a sniper attempted to shoot her, but Lemo, already on his toes after the last attempt, intercepted the sniper before he’d been able to shoot. It wouldn’t have been enough to kill her even if the sniper had managed to hit her; her power had grown out of the range of most conventional blaster weaponry. The sniper, too, had been fed to the Demsu, and Lemo swore that no more attempts would happen under his watch.

Lemo nearly kept his promise, but the third and final couldn’t have been helped, as it was committed by a member of the Ginyu Force.

The delivery date was only a few weeks away when Kikono returned, this time for the preparation of the final extermination of the Demsu. They’d collected as many samples as they felt necessary to breed and reseed the species if the Frieza Force desired, and, officially, Kikono was here to review the final results. The project had been extended further than originally anticipated, and thus well over-budget, and, as head of Research and Development, Kikono was responsible for determining if the endeavor was worth the extra expenditures.

Of course the fact it coincided with the birth of the Saiyan child was coincidental.

Kikono had Gine and Raditz in his lab, when the door chime buzzed.

“Go away, I’m busy.”

All three of them looked to the door when the security override was activated.

“What is the meaning of this!” Kikono hissed. Raditz held up his hand, charging a Ki blast when Lemo entered, holding a blaster. Instead of gawking at them, he peeked back through the door, before shutting it. He looked over at the three in the lab, and he went a bit pale.

“Erm, sorry for the...Intrusion, Doctor, but you all need to get out of here,” Lemo said.

“I’m a little busy _ giving birth _, Lemo,” Gine growled at him.

“Yeah, I figured, which is why it’s a _ really _ inconvenient time for a member of the Ginyu Force to show up with about a dozen goons,” Lemo explained, “Guess where they’re going to look for you _ first? _”

GIne took a few breaths, trying to focus, “So either I give birth _ right now _ or we find a way for us to run.”

“I’ll take care of this,” Raditz said, stepping forward towards the door.

“No! Raditz, they’ll kill you!”

“They’ll try.”

Raditz stepped out of the door. Lemo looked over at Gine and Kikono, and followed him out. They were quickly joined by Meys-as well as a half dozen armed Frieza Force soldiers, and Guldo, his hands on his hips, looking smug.

“Saiyan. You’re in the way. I need to speak with the Doctor,” Guldo said.

“The doctor is busy right now and can’t be interrupted. You’ll have to come back later,” Raditz said, crossing his arms.

“Well see that’s just too bad, I’ve got _ urgent _ business, so whatever the Doctor is working on can wait. So I’ll say this only once more, _ get out of my way, _ Saiyan. Though, if you _ really _ want to play, I’m more than happy to oblige you,” Guldo snickered. Lemo switched on his scouter to get a reading on Guldo and his goons; 1,000 for each goon, and 19,000 for Guldo himself. Raditz was clocked at 3k, and Meys at 2k. Lemo couldn’t even use Ki attacks, and might as well not even have a Power Level; all he had was his blaster, and he knew how unconventional and dangerous Guldo was.

Lemo’s eyes widened when he realized something. He looked to the Saiyans, then at Guldo. Lemo swallowed, and booked it away from what was about to be a battlefield, ignored by the real fighters.

Raditz assumed a fighting stance, “You’re just going to have to be patient, because you’re not getting in here.”

“Then you’ll just have to die. Men? Get him.”

The soldiers flew into action, letting loose with Ki blasts as they charges, forcing Raditz and Meys to block the attacks. They charged straight into the melee, knowing they were outnumbered, while Guldo watched his soldiers beat down on the Saiyan pair, laughing all the while.

Guldo, however, had not anticipated the Saiyans’ training. Raditz and the Saiyan squad had been training together now for years, and they were used to fighting in small groups against larger numbers of opponents. As a group, the Saiyans were overpowered, but these soldiers weren’t trained and drilled to work as a pair the way they were. Instead of a team power level of 12,000, the soldiers were instead 12 men with Power Levels of 1,000, and the Saiyans knew how to divide and conquer a group like that with ease, and they made short work of the squad, leaving Guldo steaming.

“Looks like the Chief decided to be a coward and bowed out,” Meys said, panting; just because they won didn’t mean he hadn’t taken a number of hits.

“Only the strong can be cowardly,” Raditz said, flexing his fists, “The weak have no place on the battlefield.”

“Then why are you here?” Guldo chuckled, “Just because you beat my men doesn’t mean you’ve got a chance against me! I’m Guldo, of the Ginyu Force, and _ you’re dead! _”

Guldo let out a series of Ki blasts at the Saiyans, more than they could keep up with, and holes were blown into the side of the lab. Raditz and Meys flew straight at Guldo, ready to lay down some physical attacks, but Guldo held his breath to freeze the pair, and strutted over into the lab through the holes he’d made.

“Well well well, look at what we have here,” Guldo snickered, “A momma monkey and her little baby. So cute, I could just pinch their little heads off.”

Kikono stepps back from Gine and the baby, “I have what I need, just leave me out of this!”

“Oh, no, Doctor, don’t think you’re getting off that easily. You allowed this to happen, so when I’m through with them, I’m taking you right to Lord Frieza. He’ll be _ very _ interested in what I’ve found here,” Guldo taunted. Gine slid off the table, holding the baby tight to her chest. Her legs wanted to buckle, but she willed them to keep standing, and be ready to run.

“Ah, ah, ah, you can’t hide and you can’t run from Guldo!” he taunted, raising his arm and firing. Gine was quick, though, and dodged the attack, while Kikono fled his lab.

“You Saiyans are a real pain in the ass!” he kept firing while Gine ran from the blasts. His large eyes on the sides of his head rotated and gazed at Raditz and Meys, who were flying at him again. Guldo froze the Saiyans and picked up lab equipment laying around him with his telekinesis, and pelted the junk at them, sending them sprawling from the blows. Gine fired a blast, hitting him square in the face, and he turned his gaze to her.

“All right, that’s enough of that!” he snarled, and stopped; Gine was no longer holding the child, “Damn you! Where’s the brat?”

Gine replied by holding up both her hands and shouting, “BROILER!”

Guldo let out a scream as the flaming Ki blast enveloped his head, and he patted it out with his hands. Meys and Raditz struck Guldo, sending him flying out of the lab and away from the compound, allowing Gine to grab the baby from where she’d hidden her, and run in the opposite direction. Meys and Raditz chased after Guldo, who was standing and snarling at them when they’d arrived.

“All right, I’ve had enough of this!” he bellowed, pulling boulders out of the ground, “You all die now!”

“Double Sunday!” Raditz yelled, firing off his special move to get a sudden burst of speed to dodge the boulders. Meys was not so lucky, and was smacked head-on by the attack. Just before Raditz collided with Guldo, the mercenary held his breath, and ran away from Raditz to a better spot, where he would more easily fling objects at him. He let his breath go, and laughed as Raditz face-planted right into the hill.

“You know what else is funny?” Guldo heard someone say. He spun around, and was met with a flamethrower to the face as Lemo pulled the trigger on the weapon he’d run to retrieve. As Guldo screamed and patted at his face to get the ignited fluid off of him, Raditz had recovered, and landed before Guldo.

The weakest member of the Ginyu Force let out a wheeze as he tried to catch his breath, only to feel pain and start to cough, and then felt nothing as Raditz ended him with a Saturday Crush. Raditz fell to his knees over Guldo’s corpse, and he started to laugh.

“Oh, man...Oh, no, no, this is bad, what did I just do, oh no…” Lemo started to hyperventilate at the implications of what he’d just done.

“You,” Raditz pointed his finger at Lemo, “You just saved us all.”

“And now we’re dead. We are so dead, so dead…”

“No, see, Guldo’s not a bright man,” Raditz stood up, “And he decided he could _ handle _ the Demsu, and decided to get a closer look. But they’re grumpy, and we haven’t been treating them well.”

“Wait...are you suggesting...We feed them to the Demsu a _ third _ time?” Lemo asked. Raditz shrugged.

“It’s a dangerous planet. And with so many...His men fought _ so bravely _ to rescue their commander, it’s a shame they perished with him,” Raditz laughed, “Really, people have to be more careful around the beasts.”

Lemo scratched his head, “If this gets back to me, I’m a dead man, Raditz.”

“We’re all dead if they decide to care,” Raditz picked up Guldo’s body, “Good work with the flamethrower. I didn’t expect you to come back.”

“Well, I figured, if his special power requires him to hold his breath, then let’s make it hard for him to breathe,” Lemo presented the flamethrower, “Besides, if he beat you, he’d probably have killed everyone here or even blown up the planet just to keep everyone quiet about the whole thing.”

Lemo rolled his eyes, “You know. Meteor crash. Terrible coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”

Raditz let out a grunt, and flew over to Meys, who was digging himself out.

“Sorry about that, Raditz,” Meys coughed, “Bastard’s faster than I gave him credit for.”

“We nearly died. You need to get better,” Raditz pulled him out, “Thank you.”

Meys wiped himself off, and poked at his scouter, “Happy to help. Let’s go find Gine.”

After dropping Guldo’s body into the Demsu pens, they took to the skies, leaving Lemo to haul the rest of the bodies. It took a few hours of searching, but they found Gine following a pack of Demsu to hide her power level. She had spotted them, as well, and, not knowing if they were friend or foe, she fled to a cave, and laid an ambush for them which nearly took Meys’s head off.

“GINE! Watch it, it’s us!” he yelped. She stepped out of the darkness, covered in blood and dirt, clutching the baby.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Lemo came out with a flamethrower, and torched his face, like your Broiler attack. Then I killed him with a Saturday Crush. We’re feeding him and his men to the Demsu, like the other attackers,” Raditz explained. Gine let out a sigh of relief.

“If I have another baby, I’m taking my chances with the Incubation Chamber,” she lamented, and held up the Saiyan girl, who squirmed and fussed, “Raditz? Say hello to your baby sister.”

Raditz leaned over, and offered his finger; the baby squeezed it.

“Ah! She’s got Nappa’s grip!” he laughed, “Ow! Give it back!”

“She got a name?” Meys asked, grinning at her. Gine wiped the baby’s head with her shirt.

“Yeah. Her name is Brussa.”


	5. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Saiyans split up for different missions, preparing to begin their rebellion. When Raditz arrives on Earth, however, he finds only disappointment.

The fact they weren’t immediately shot down over the planet was a good sign.

Officially, the operation with the Demsu ended, and the Saiyans went about the final extermination of the species in the wild on Nudal, which took a couple weeks more. Kikomo remained on-planet for the duration, ostensibly to oversee the final steps, but it was obvious he was terrified of further reprisals from the Ginyu Force or, worse, from Frieza himself. He even chose to return with the Saiyans aboard his ship, which meant they would return to Frieza Planet 17 together, and just after Vegeta and Nappa returned, as well.

“Well, Raditz, I’m either ignored or done for,” Lemo said to the Saiyan, “I’d say it was a pleasure fighting with you, but that was a nightmare I hope I never repeat.”

“You thought fast, and saved my family, Chief. Thank you. And if anyone asks, I never met you,” Raditz shook his hand.

“And the same to you,” Lemo nodded, and disembarked.

“Well, I suppose I should, ah, be, um, getting back to my, ah, lab,” Kikono said, “I am in so much trouble, aren’t I?”

Gine laid her hand on his shoulder, “If we can, we’ll protect you, Kikono. Just message us. You watched over me when you didn’t need to.”

“He tried selling us out at the first chance he got!” Meys insisted.

“So? He still helped deliver Brussa,” Gine pointed out, “Name any Frieza soldier that wouldn’t have done the same thing.”

“Chief Lemo,” Meys grumbled. Gine and Kikono ignored him.

“I’ll be sure to call if anything comes up. Hopefully we won’t all get...Wiped out in one go…” Kikono swallowed a lump in his throat, and left the ship. Gine led the other Saiyans off the ship, with Raditz cradling Brussa in his arm. The baby was holding Raditz’s fingers with all her grip, which was surprisingly mighty for a month-old baby.

Nappa was waiting for them with Vegeta, the former looking like he had to pee, and the other looking like he was trying not to vomit.

“Is it her? Let me see her!” Nappa rushed over to Raditz.

“Naw, we decided she cried too much, so we left her back on Nudle. This is a Demsu pup we adopted instead. Much cleaner,” Raditz said. Nappa wasn’t listening, he was too busy prying the baby away from Raditz, and wiggling his finger in her face. Brussa reached up and accepted the proffered gift, refusing to let it go.

“Ah-AH! SHe, uh, she’s got quite a grip on her! Hehehe,” Nappa laughed. He pulled, but couldn’t dislodge the finger, “So, what should we name her?”

“Already have,” Gine walked up to Nappa and caressed the baby’s face, causing her to relax and let go of her father, “I named her Brussa, after your mother. You kept talking about her, so I figured it was a good choice.”

“Well, um, yes. Of course it was. My mother was a great and powerful warrior,” Nappa declared, hiding the quiver in his voice behind bravado.

“Can we go? I want to get pick out our next mission,” Vegeta growled.

“You don’t want to say hello to the new baby, Vegeta? She’s already got the grip of a titan,” Gine offered.

“It’s a distraction. She’ll only hold us back. You should send it off to conquer some planet, get some use out of her,” Vegeta said.

“When she’s fighting alongside us, you won’t think that,” Gine motioned to take Brussa back from Nappa. He didn’t notice. Vegeta scoffed, and started walking back to their compound, the other Saiyans in tow.

“You know who I am? I’m your daddy! I’m gonna make sure you get big and strong, just like me! You’ll destroy your enemies with half a thought, yes you will!” Nappa cooed at Brussa, who proceeded to baby-punch him in the face to get some space. Vegeta entered their compound first, grumbling about how dark it was in here, flipping on the light.

“Good morning, Prince Vegeta,” someone called out from the other side of the front room. Four of the Saiyans took up battle stances at the intruder; it took them a moment to realize who it was. Meys let out a gasp-or a squeak.

“Captain Ginyu,” Vegeta had kept his composure, and simply turned to face him, “This is a surprise.”

“Shouldn’t be, if you knew what your team managed to do on Nudal,” Ginyu said, inspecting his fingernails while leaning against the wall, “Or have they not told you yet?”

Nappa held Brussa closer to his chest.

“They only just arrived. What’s this about, Ginyu?” Vegeta demanded.

“Oh, well, see, this is an apology. From my team to yours. It seems that our little Guldo took an unsanctioned job, and ‘acquired’ some gear and men for his little side-gig. Not only that, but he failed. Seems that he got too interested in the local fauna, and got himself jumped,” Ginyu explained, “It’s such an awful pain when someone else’s team gets involved with your operation, isn’t it?”

“I do despise distractions,” Vegeta remarked, glaring over his shoulder at Gine.

“Sure. Of course, I haven’t got the  _ faintest _ idea what Guldo was there to accomplish, but I understand he made a hell of a mess for your team to clean up. So I thought I’d wait here to give my sincerest apologies,” Ginyu bowed to them. There was a tense moment as the Saiyans waited for Vegeta to respond.

To their shock, Vegeta bowed back, and the rest of the Saiyans followed suit.

“We wouldn’t dream of compromising our relationship with the Ginyu Force over any misunderstandings,” Vegeta said.

“Of course,” Ginyu stood back up, “Of course, that  _ does  _ leave an opening on our team. I’d offer it to you, Vegeta, but you’re busy with your own operations.”

“I appreciate the thought,” Vegeta crossed his arms, no gratitude seeping from his tone whatsoever.

“Though I have heard that you’ve got another warrior among you with a great deal of potential. Raditz, isn’t it? What do you say? You’d need a bit of training, but we could use a team player like you on the Ginyu Force,” Ginyu gestured to Raditz, who froze in place. Raditz glanced at each of the Saiyans. Meys held his hand to his mouth, either hiding his fear or his moustache, or both. Shive was doing his best to become invisible. Nappa was clutching Brussa like she was about to fly away. Gine was staring daggers at Ginyu. Vegeta wasn’t even looking at Raditz.

“It’s an excellent offer, Captain, but I’m afraid I’ll have to turn it down. I already have a team, you see,” Raditz gestured to the Saiyans, “With a new member to train and everything.”

Ginyu grinned, “You what? I appreciate that. Stick to what keeps you strong. Your team is everything in the heat of battle.”

Ginyu pushed off the wall and walked up to the Saiyans. He glanced at the baby, then up to Nappa, and finally to Gine.

“We’re looking forward to seeing what she’s capable of. We all expect  _ great things _ from the daughter of such... _ Prestigious _ warriors,” Ginyu said to her, and he pushed his way through the Saiyans, out the front door.

When he was gone, everyone let go of their breath, and held it again when they realized Vegeta still hadn’t shown any reaction at all.

“So, uh, Vegeta,” Nappa started. Vegeta was still staring at the door.

“Uh...Vegeta? You okay?”

“You got to him,” Vegeta said. They all stared at him, their jaws dropping when Vegeta started to laugh.

“The great Ginyu! I don’t know how you managed to piss him off like that, but even Ginyu’s worried! A bunch of low-class bumpkins, backing Captain Ginyu into piss-poor threats and shows of bravado!” Vegeta roared with laughter, “We’re well on our way.”

Vegeta shook his head, and looked at Gine, “I thought your whelp was going to be a nuisance, but we’re showing everyone that we can’t be touched! You keep that child close, you keep it alive, and you keep it strong, and nobody but Lord Frieza himself will  _ think _ of challenging us!”

Vegeta chuckled, “You’ve made me proud to be the Prince of Saiyans.”

He pointed at Shive, “Except you. Get some backbone.”

He pointed to Meys, “And if you don’t get rid of that thing in ten minutes, we’re having a repeat of last time, understand?”

Meys replied by pulling out his knife, and putting it into the wall. Vegeta gave him a bloodthirsty grin.

_ Twelve Years Later, Earth Age 761 _

“So what’s on E-Arth?” Brussa asked, looking over the datapad. At eleven years old, she didn’t even reach her brother’s knees, but that didn’t mean she was lacking in size. Where her mother was small and lithe, Brussa was built like her father, broad and thick. With her small stature, she looked like a muscular bush, as her head ended in the mess that was her mother’s hair. All the Saiyans were assembled in their landing zone on a remote, uninhabited world they occasionally used as a launching point.

Raditz leaned down to be closer to her height; she put her hands on her hips and, almost by reflex, scowled at him, and she clenched her fist, only relaxing when Raditz gave her a smile.

“It’s not a particularly important planet, but it is where our brother, Kakarot is. You remember we told you about Kakarot?” Raditz asked. Brussa crossed her arms.

“Mom sent him away when our homeworld blew up. Why didn’t we get him earlier?”

“Too dangerous, but we’re almost ready to make our move, so we should go and get him, and bring him back here. Do you feel ready for  _ your _ mission?”

“Pff, yeah. I don’t know why you’re sending me with Shive and Meys. I can handle it myself,” she insisted.

“Well, someone has to watch over them, and while I’m getting Kakarot, you’re the next best, got it?” Raditz reached out with his finger. Brussa tried to block his hand, but he was too fast for her, and he booped her on the nose. She replied by punching him in the shoulder.

“Well if I have to babysit then,” she grumbled.

“If you three get yourselves in trouble, I’m the closest. I’m a couple months away, while Mom and Nappa are almost a  _ year _ away, okay? We’re a team. We’ve got each other’s backs, no matter what,” he told her.

“Right. If you’re in trouble, go right to you, you’re only a couple months away. Got it,” Brussa nodded. Raditz laughed, and slapped her on the shoulder.

“Do us proud, kid. I’ll see you in a few months, with our brother, okay?”

“Okay, Raditz,” Brussa huffed. Gine immediately squeezed her son in a hug.

“Tell your brother I look forward to meeting him,” Gine told him.

“Tell him yourself,” Raditz said, “I’m bringing him back, by his tail if I need to.”

“If he’s anything like you, you might,” she laughed.

“Shouldn’t be any trouble,” Nappa said, “We’ve pushed Raditz as far as he can go, while Kakarot’s been alone on a planet for almost twenty years. Poor kid doesn’t stand a chance.”

“This better not be a waste of our time, Raditz,” Vegeta growled, “I don’t want you to go off for months at a time when we could have used you somewhere else.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure Kakarot shapes up, one way or another, Prince,” Raditz bowed, “We won’t disappoint you.”

Vegeta nodded, “Good.”

Raditz waved goodbye to them, before slipping into his pod, and it floated away.

“You ready, kiddo?” Shive asked Brussa. She glowered at him.

“It’s ‘Mission Leader Kiddo’ to you!” she insisted. Shive held up a fist.

“Just because you’re  _ assigned _ the leader doesn’t mean you’ve  _ earned _ it, kiddo. This is a test, and you  _ can _ fail,” he reminded her.

Nappa loomed over Shive, “You doubting my daughter?”

Shive rubbed his neck, “Well, you know. Just reminding her she’s got to prove herself. You know, it’s a challenge. She won’t back down from a challenge, right?”

Brussa and Nappa gave the same huff of “Course Not.”

“All right, into the pods before Shive wets himself,” Meys ordered.

“Hey, I resent that!”

“You  _ resemble _ that.”

Gine hugged Brussa; her daughter buried her face in her mother’s hair, a familiar comfort to them both.

“I know you’ll what needs to be done. Just remember,  _ together, _ okay? We’re all a team,” Gine said.

“Yeah, way to repeat Raditz. I’ve  _ got this. _ I’ll be the toughest person in the sector,” Brussa insisted.

“Being tough isn’t always enough. Remember to  _ pay attention, _ okay? It’s okay to ask if someone else sees something. And if you get hungry-”

“I have to go, mom,” Brussa said.

“Okay, sprout. Call Raditz if you-”

“Mom, I  _ have to go. _ ”

“Bye, Brussa!” Gine wouldn’t stop waving as Brussa got into her pod, and the three took off. Nappa rested his hand on her shoulder, and Gine leaned against her.

“Your girl is strong,” Vegeta said, “So there’s no point in worrying. Let’s go, we have a planet to conquer.”

“Of course, Prince Vegeta,” Gine said, “They’ll all be fine.”

_ “Arrived in Urth orbit. Awakening subject.” _

Raditz let out a stomach-rumbling burp, and spit out a bit of the sleeper fluid into a tube meant for that. The turbulence was always the worst par, though Raditz had a stronger stomach for it than Meys, who always hid his discomfort with extra bravado once he left his pod. The explosion of the impact was a comfort, as it meant the shaking was at an end.

Raditz stepped out of the pod, floating out of the crater. Before him stood an alien, squat and a bit hairier than a Saiyan, but generally shaped the same way. He scowled at the creature.

“The creatures on this planet are still alive? Kakarot failed us…” Raditz groaned.

“Y-You’re on my property!” the alien said, and the machine in his hand made a noise as he pumped the handle.

“Yes, and?” Raditz pressed on his scouter, “A power level of five? This is a disaster…”

_ BANG! _

Raditz caught the weapon’s projectile.

“How many of you are left on this planet?” Raditz demanded. The alien pumped its weapon again, but Raditz flicked the projectile at the creature, breaking the weapon and pushing the alien against its vehicle.

“Not even a brat like Kakarot could have messed this up so much,” Raditz grumbled, and he pressed on his scouter, “Something’s wrong here.”

The scouter ran through all the creatures in the vicinity, before locking onto one within a flight.

“Three hundred twenty two? This thing must be busted! There’s no way he’s that pathetic!” Raditz snarled, flying toward the power source. During his flight, he stopped, and looked down at the region around him. He cycled his scouter, trying to confirm what he was looking at. Even out here, in the mountains, in this remote area, he could spot several small settlements. Some were little agricultural operations, others were clusters of buildings. Primitive vehicles drove along smooth paths.

“There’s no way! KAKAROT! HOW COULD YOU FAIL US?” Raditz shouted, and began firing blasts at every building and settlement he could see. He watched them all impact and explode, wiping out every sign of civilization. He took a breath.

He would find Kakarot. He would beat him within an inch of his life. Then, once he was recovered, they would finish Kakarot’s mission together. Mother might object, but she wasn’t here, and this was the best they were going to get.

Cycling his scouter again, and, seeing that the power had increased to just under four hundred, he vowed to give the device a workover, before flying straight toward the source.

He found it, in the middle of a wasteland, and he cursed the device once again.

“A Namekian? I don’t understand. Where  _ is _ Kakarot?” he hissed.

“What-What are you? Did you-Those towns!” the Namekian stammered.

“More worthless aliens,” Raditz grumbled, “What are you doing here, Namekian? You’re much too far from home.”

“Namekian? What are you talking about?”

“I’m looking for a Saiyan named Kakarot. Where is he?”

“I don’t understand- _ What are you? _ ” the alien took a step back, holding up his arm.

“Are you going to try something, green man? I don’t have time for this. Where’s Kakarot?”

“Who is Kakarot?”

“Whoever he is, he’s not here, so get lost!”

“Tell me, Namekian, how many warriors on this planet have your…” Raditz checked his scouter again. The Namekian was still under four hundred, but the busted thing said the power seemed to be crawling up, “...Scale of power? Because I assure you, I am several fathoms higher.

Raditz was engulfed in a flash of yellow light and heat, but he stepped through the blast.

“Not even a leg hair singed. Now, answer my questions: Who are you, and where is Kakarot!”

“I am-” the Namekian clenched his fists, “I am Piccolo, and this world is rightfully mine! Leave, before I get serious!”

Raditz snorted, “Serious. Right.”

He lifted two fingers, and blasted the Namekian, sending him flying off the mesa they were standing on. Raditz simply dropped down after him, and stood over the Namekian, who struggled to stand.

“So, ‘Piccolo’, do you feel cooperative? You’re the only thing my scouter has picked up on that’s even worth looking at, and not by much. He should be a warrior of considerable power, much greater than your paltry, what was it? Three hundred sixty five?” Raditz scoffed, before checking the Scouter again. One hundred forty four, “Damn thing!”

Suddenly, it beeped again, and flashed another power level at the Scouter’s peripheral range. Raditz looked down at the Namekian.

“What in that direction, about three hundred klicks?” Raditz pointed.

“Th-The ocean,” Piccolo coughed, finally standing, and he looked off into the distance, “Where...No...You can’t be…”

Piccolo looked to Raditz, a look of horror on his face, “Could it be...Goku?”

“What’s a ‘Goku’?” Raditz demanded.

“Follow your device. If who you’re looking for is who I think it is, you’ll find them,” Piccolo said, “But mark my words, stranger...I’ll find a way to surpass you and your power, and when that happens, you’ll regret coming to Earth.”

Raditz snorted, “As you say, Namekian. Why don’t you stay here, and contemplate your irrelevance, until Kakarot and I come back to wipe you from existence.”

Piccolo watched the alien fly off, leaving him in solitude once more, his gi in tatters.

“Goku, I could have surpassed you...But that...It was so beyond either of us...This won’t end well, one way or another…”


	6. Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raditz finds Kakarot, and discovers Earth's true value

“That’s everyone. Tien was hard to get ahold of, but everyone’s been told,” Bulma said. Goku and Krillin were still on the beach in front of Kame house, just standing there and staring off into the distance. It had been years since she’d seen either of them this intense. Goku hadn’t been tense when he’d faced Piccolo, he’d been  _ excited. _ Seeing him scared, seeing him angry...She was glad she’d called the rest of their friends. Had she called enough?

“He’s here,” Krillian muttered.

“Daddy, what’s going on?” little Gohan demanded.

“Stay back, Gohan,” Goku commanded, his eyes still up on the skies. Bulma patted the kid on the head, and ushered him back into the house. She looked to Roshi.

“Do you feel it, too? I wish I knew what was going on,” she said. Roshi nodded, that solemn look on his face he had when he knew it was time to get serious.

“Yes, I feel it. Whole communities wiped out. It’s hard to explain, but think of it like hearing a bunch of noises all the time, you don’t notice it. Then, suddenly, there’s a much louder single noise, and suddenly, the ones that’ve always been there are gone. All three of us are feeling that noise, and we all felt those towns get wiped out in an instant. Whatever is going on…” Roshi looked out the window to his students, “It’s going to take everything we’ve got to deal with it.”

Krillin took a step back as, suddenly, a new figure was floating above the two warriors. He was tall, as tall as the Ox King, with long, black hair than ran down to his calves. Bulma swallowed the lump in her throat; she wanted to get a closer look, but she had Gohan clutching her leg; she wouldn’t let the boy out of her sight.

“Kakarot! I’ve found you!” the figure announced, floating closer to the ground, “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

The figure landed on the beach, his eyes locked on Goku.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here? Why did you kill all those people?” Goku demanded. The man grimaced.

“I’m doing what you were sent here to accomplish, Kakarot. Do you not recognize me?”

“I’ve never seen you in my life.”

The man cocked his head, “Curious. Do you not even recognize your own name, Kakarot?”

Goku clenched his fists, “You’re going to answer for what you did to those people, do you hear me?”

“What, are you-” the figure looked Goku up and down, scowling, “It shocks me how much you look like our father. Tell me, Kakarot, did you hit your head as a child?”

Goku looked to Krillin, and then to Bulma in the house, before looking back to the figure, “What if I did?”

The man crossed his arms, “Then I can’t exactly blame you for failing us. Perhaps it’s for the best, in the end. Listen up, Kakarot, because there’s a lot you need to know. Do you know where you came from? Anything about your past?”

“I was found in the woods by my grandfather.”

“Nothing before then? About your family, or where you came from?”

Goku shook his head, and his stance was starting to falter.

“Goku, don’t listen to this guy! Remember what he did to those people, he’s a monster!” Krillin said.

“Monster or not, Kakarot, the truth is that you were sent here to  _ destroy _ this world, and you failed. The people who sent you will not be pleased, and your weakness puts us all in danger,” the man told him.

“Goku is the world’s mightiest warrior!” Krillin boasted, “He’s a hero who saved the Earth many times from monsters like you!”

The man put his hands on his hips and smiled, “A hero, huh? I’ve made a career of killing heroes, Kakarot, but I suppose it runs in our blood. Our father was a hero, too. A martyr, who died trying to protect our world. But that is the power we face, Kakarot. A power to whom not even the greatest of warriors can stop.”

“Our father-?” Goku muttered.

“That’s right, Kakarot. My name is Raditz. Like our father, I scour worlds to sell to the highest bidder on behalf of Emperor Frieza. We come from a race of warriors known as the Saiyans, and we stand on the brink of extinction. Which is why I am here, Kakarot-to retrieve you, my brother. We need every warrior we can, and garner as much goodwill as we can with Lord Frieza,” Raditz explained, and he looked around the island.

“Clearly, however, your childhood injury has made you forget everything from your indoctrination, and you have, instead, settled here,” Raditz said with a smile, “Our mother won’t show it, but she’ll be jealous.”

“Wait,” Bulma stepped out of Kame House, “You’re here to  _ recruit _ Goku? What do you need him for?”

“We have much to discuss, Kakarot. But we cannot delay,” Raditz held out his hand, “Come with me.”

“Ex- _ cuse _ me, I’m  _ talking _ to you!” Bulma shouted. Raditz scowled at her.

“Tell your pet to be silent or I’ll quiet it for you,” Raditz told Goku.

“Bulma, get back inside,” Goku said.

“WHAT? I’m not taking orders from  _ either _ of you! I demand an explanation, you come to  _ my _ planet, kill people, and then order me around?! I don’t-”

In a split second, faster than Bulma could follow, Goku flew across the island, ripping a hole through Kame House, sending Roshi onto his ass.

“Hmph, you’re lucky Kakarot is so soft, human. That was meant for you,” Raditz said to her.

“Y-Yeah, okay, message received,” Bulma stammered.

Goku jumped out of the water, soaring over Kame House, and landing next to Raditz, clutching his stomach.

“I-Erph! I won’t...Let you hurt anyone else, Raditz!” Goku warned before coughing.

“Seriously, Kakarot, this planet has left you weak. I don’t need a weakling, I need a Saiyan Warrior! I need my brother, someone worthy of bearing the legacy of our father! Do you know what will happen to both of us if I come back with you  _ this _ pitiful?” Raditz shook his head, “I can’t believe you let yourself be this weak. Mother and I should have retrieved you years ago. But I suppose we had no choice in the moment.”

“I am...Son Goku…” he stood up straight, “I am the defender of this world, and I will not allow you to hurt anyone here again!”

“Wait, hold on,” Krillin interjected, “Bulma’s right, why  _ are _ you here for Goku? If he’s so weak, why not just let us be?”

“Your pets are barking again, Kakarot.”

Goku replied by charging at Raditz, who, with one arm, snatched Goku by the arm and slammed him into the sand, pressing down on his chest with his foot.

“Yeah, you’re, like, super fast,” Krillin squeaked

“Wait, Raditz, listen,” Bulma interjected again, “Why don’t you let us go, and call your trip a wash, right? Goku’s clearly not a threat to you or your um, Saiyans. You don’t want him, or us, right? We’ll just bring those people back with the Dragonballs!”

Raditz looked over to Bulma, his eyebrow cocked, “The what?”

“The, erm...Dragon...Balls…”

With Raditz distracted, Goku grabbed Raditz with his other hand, and pulled himself up, trying to flip Raditz over, but the other warrior just floated into the air, before punching Goku in the chest several times, before letting him fall to the ground.

“DADDY!” Gohan rushed out of Kame House to Goku. Raditz let out a gasp, and gawked at the boy as he shook his father to rouse him.

“What is  _ that? _ ” Raditz demanded.

“Gohan, come back inside,” Roshi commanded, but Gohan wouldn’t listen.

“See? Goku even has a son to take care of. There’s no reason for him to go out in space...Destroying planets,” Bulma gestured to Gohan. Raditz stood over Gohan and Goku; the toddler turned to Raditz, and scowled, tears rolling down his cheeks.

“I’m not gonna let you hurt my daddy!” Gohan declared, and he kicked Raditz in the shin. Raditz bent over, and picked Gohan by the collar, before turning back to Bulma.

“This is Kakarot’s son?”

“Raditz, please! Don’t hurt Gohan!” Goku wheezed.

“Hurt him?” Raditz let out a laugh, “Kakarot, you’re pathetic, but you’re lucky this world is so interesting. We can  _ breed _ with the locals, and what are these Dragonballs you mentioned?”

Raditz took the hat off of Gohan and turned on his scouter. The ball was giving off a strange energy it couldn’t quite identify, “Is  _ this _ a Dragonball? What does it do?”

“Why should I tell you?” Bulma demanded.

“Because I’ll rip your arms off if you don’t. I’ve already defeated your ‘world’s mightiest’, so who’s there to stop me?” Raditz said, pressing on Goku’s chest harder with his foot, “Now give me a reason I shouldn’t kill you, my worthless brother, and everyone here.”

“They...They grant a wish, if you gather all seven! Anything you want!” Bulma blurted, “Please, just stop hurting him!”

Raditz gave one more press, but stepped off Goku’s chest.

“This planet just got a  _ lot _ more interesting,” Raditz said, “Congratulations, human, you live to cower another day. What the-”

Raditz’s scouter beeped as Gohan growled, before letting out a screech of, “STOP HURTING MY DADDY!”

Before Raditz was able to register the words, Gohan kicked Raditz in the face, sending him back into the sand. Gohan dropped to the ground next to his father, who was beginning to stand up. Goku clutched his son as the boy began to cry again.

Raditz leaned up, a smile on his face as he got back onto his feet. He reached into his mouth, and pulled out a tooth.

“Well, well, I am surprised. I thought my scouter was broken, but this planet just gets weirder and weirder, doesn’t it, Kakarot?” Raditz said, walking over to them, “So I’m going to make you a deal, and you don’t really have a choice in the matter.”

Goku charged at Raditz, but he caught Goku’s fist and planted him in the ground with another strike. Raditz stepped on Goku’s back and stepped toward Gohan, who was whimpering as he tried to scramble away from Raditz.

“You either bring me the other six Dragonballs, or you become powerful enough to be worth our time. If you don’t, I’ll destroy another one of your precious cities, and leave you with your pitiful world. But I’ll be taking your half-breed son with me when I go. He’s got potential,” Raditz said, “And I’ll be back with the rest of my team if I do. I’m sure Vegeta will be very interested to learn about the Dragonballs himself.”

He looked to Bulma and Krillin, “You have one week.”

Raditz reached out, grabbing Gohan by the tail and squeezing, before flying off into the distance. Bulma pressed her hand to her mouth as she watch Raditz go; she’d just told him about the Dragonballs, and now he was demanding them. She looked down to Goku, who was wheezing and struggling to stand.

“What are we going to do?” she said aloud.

“We train,” a voice called out. They all looked up to see Piccolo, wearing a destroyed Gi, and he landed next to Goku.

“Piccolo...Now’s not a great time,” Goku said through a laugh.

Piccolo gave a grin, “I know, and I heard. I was keeping my distance, watching what would happen. It went about as well as I expected. I had an encounter with him too.”

Piccolo gestured to his Gi, “It didn’t go well.”

“I guess this means we’re putting our thing aside for now, huh?”

“Yeah. If we can’t beat him, then he and his team will come back and take over the world. That’s  _ my _ job,” Piccolo gestured to himself, “So we’ve got one week to figure out a plan.”

“We’re gonna need everybody for this,” Krillin said, “Goku didn’t stand a  _ chance _ against him.”

“None of us do. Not alone. Which pains me to say, we’ll need your help, too,” Piccolo said. He gestured to Roshi, “Yours, too, old man.”

Roshi leaned on his stick, scowling as he thought, “We may need to consider some extremes here. This won’t be like your father, Piccolo. I’ve got a few more things to teach, and a few more things to learn, but can you pull any of your fathers’?”

“There’s some things, but if you’re talking about creating children, no way. It puts a huge strain on the body, and I would lose a part of myself. It’s what made my father weak. He didn’t do things himself. I’m killing this Raditz myself, even if I have to use the rest of you.”

“Good. We’re going to need that attitude, Piccolo. Goku, can you stand?” Roshi asked.

“Yeah, Master Roshi, I’m good. Just had the wind knocked out of me, that’s all,” Goku said.

Bulma snapped her fingers, “Wait, I’ve got it! Here’s what we’ll do: You all train, and  _ I’ll _ gather the Dragonballs! If you can’t handle Raditz, we’ll make a wish, and have Shenron handle him for us! I got us into this mess, I can get us out if we need to.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Krillin nodded.

“All right. We’ll train in my domain, it’s much more open, and we won’t be bothered. And if you need motivation, you can just visit the towns that Raditz destroyed. Be there soon, I have no use for cowards,” Piccolo said, taking off into the air.

“Hey, Roshi? I’ve got one more call to make,” Bulma said, “Was your phone destroyed?”

“Hmm? Well, it’s only the two holes, it’s covered in dust, but yeah. Who you calling?”

“Desperate measures.”

“This has been an awful day,” Raditz growled, throwing Gohan on the ground, “Stay here, I’m getting food.”

Gohan sat up, rubbing his eyes and looked around him. They were in a field, with large chicken-things wandering around. He sat next to a crater, and at the bottom was a white sphere. He spotted Raditz down the hill, grabbing two giant birds by the neck and flinging them about, snapping their necks.

“You-You killed them! You’re so mean! You hurt my daddy! I want my daddy! DADDY!” Gohan demanded, starting to cry and screech.

“I never thought I would miss Brussa punching everything she saw when she was that age,” Raditz grumbled, “Stop crying. I’m making food.”

Gohan didn’t stop. Raditz took a deep breath as he started pulling feathers off the bird.

“Way too long of a day.”

Raditz picked up the crying Gohan under one arm, held the birds by the necks in the other, and flew to the nearest building. There was a multi-story blue building, and a larger red building next to it. Raditz saw the blue mobility machine parked next to the blue house. This must be the dwelling.

Raditz found the door, and studied it. There was only a small piece of brass on it. He reached out, and pulled, taking the whole device out of the door.

“They left the key in…” he muttered, and tried pushing. It wasn’t designed to open that way, and he studied the key he’d pulled out of the door. Raditz put the key in, and pulled, but the key just slid out of the door.

“I’m too hungry for this,” he growled, and kicked the door in. The inhabitants of the house shrieked. Gohan was still crying, so it wasn’t that much of a change.

“Stop crying before I kill all of you!” Raditz snarled. He held up Gohan, “Put him somewhere comfortable.”

Raditz dropped the chickens, “Cook those.”

“Th-That’s him! That’s the alien!” the farmer from earlier pointed at him. He was lying on a soda with bandages over his chest, and there was a female standing next to him, along with three children in the back of the room.

“Please don’t hurt us, Mr. Alien!” the woman pleaded. Raditz shook Gohan.

“Comfortable.” He pointed to the chickens, “Cook. Now.”

The woman cautiously approached Raditz, and took Gohan, putting him on one of the chairs in the sitting room. Raditz stretched, walked over to the sofa with the injured farmer, and sat, with the farmer pulling himself away from Raditz.

“Oh wow. Okay, so, your planet may be full of pathetic weaklings, but your furniture is unlike  _ anything _ I have ever sat on,” Raditz said, slumping down, “Oh, wow, this is fluffy…”

“How...Do you want me to cook these, Mr. Alien?” the woman asked.

“Cut them up and fry them. Quickly, human, I’m hungry, and so is the boy!” Raditz snarled, and the woman ran to the kitchen with a yelp. Raditz looked over to the injured farmer.

“What, are you just going to sit there gawking at me while your mate does all the work? What kind of worthless partner are you? Go help her!” Raditz gestured to the kitchen, and the farmer scrambled off the sofa and into the back. Raditz put his feet up on the table in the center of the room, and looked over at Gohan, who had stopped crying, and was just scowling at him.

“What?”

“You’re a bully. I don’t like bullies.”

“Everyone’s a bully when they have power. That’s how the world works. The strong bully, while the weak cower and connive. Your best hope is to find people just as strong as you, and bully together,” Raditz said, “Your name was Gohan, right? What kind of name is that?”

“Gohan was my daddy’s grandaddy.”

“The human that raised him, huh? Sounds worthless if Kakarot ended up as weak as he has. Unfit to raise a Saiyan.”

“Grampa Gohan was a great warrior! He didn’t hurt anyone!”

“How could he be a great warrior if he didn’t hurt anyone?”

“Well, nobody that wasn’t mean. He’d have beaten you up!”

Raditz grinned, “Sure he would, kid. Do you know who I am?”

“A bad guy!”

Raditz let out a snort, “You’re not wrong. I’m your uncle. That means I’m your father’s brother. And up there? Up in space? Your dad and I have a sister, and a mother. You get to meet your grandmother when we go to space. You want to meet your grandmother?”

“Not if she’s anything like you!” Gohan insisted. Raditz shook his head.

“Gine’s a  _ lot _ nicer than me. Sometimes, Gohan, we have to be people we don’t want to be, just to survive. That’s why I’ve got to make your dad tough. You, too. Wanna be tough, Gohan?”

He nodded, “So I can beat up bullies like you!”

“Well, I want to see what you can do, kid. So we’re gonna eat, get some rest, and in the morning, I’m gonna make you tough. Tougher than your dad. Then you can beat up all the bullies you want.”

Gohan huffed, “You’ll be the first.”

“I’ll bet,” Raditz said.

“Uh, here you go, Mr. Alien, sir,” the farmer said, presenting a plate full of meat, “It’s not everything, but it should get you started.”

“Ugh, did you spice this at all?” Raditz smelled it.

“I’M SORRY MISTER ALIEN I’LL GET SOME PEPPER!” the farmer ran back into the kitchen, before returning with a pepper shaker, “Here you go!”

“Ah, much better,” Raditz pulled the top off the shaker and sprinkled the entire shaker onto the pile of chicken, “Here you go, kid, eat up.”

Raditz tossed Gohan a slice of the chicken. He caught it, sniffed it, and sneezed.

“Too much pepper…” Gohan muttered.

“Eat it anyway, it’s what you’ve got,” Raditz said, his mouth full of chicken. Gohan bit into it, chewing bit by bit, while Radtiz shoved entire sections of the bird into his mouth, though he chewed and savored as he went. The family kept delivering bits of the chicken, spicing and preparing as they went.

“Human,” Raditz called out as they served a fourth tray.

“Uh, yes, Mr. Alien, sir?” the farmer stammered.

“Raditz.”

“Huh?”

“My name is Raditz.”

“Yes, Mr. Raditz?”

“Your animals and spices are succulent and flavorful. Only the cooking by my mother has ever surpassed the meal I have eaten this day. You have proven that your world has worth, and it will be what spares your planet,” Raditz told them.

“Uh...Thank you, Mr. Raditz?”

“You’re welcome. Now, Gohan-” Raditz looked to the boy, who had curled up and fallen asleep. Raditz smiled. He turned back to the humans.

“We require beds. I expect you to surpass the meal in the morning with breakfast.”

“Yes, Mr. Radtiz!” the man and the woman said together. The woman picked up Gohan, and led Raditz into one of the bedrooms.

“Is this to your liking, Mr. Raditz?”

“Excellent. Bring a bed in for the boy, I don’t want him out of my sight. Where is your cleansing room?”

“Uh...Bathroom’s right here. Kitchen’s downstairs in the back.”

“Good work,” Raditz said, putting Gohan on the bed. A few minutes later, the humans came in with a mattress and some blanks and pillows, laying them on the floor. Raditz put Gohan on the mattress on the floor, dismiss the humans with a wave, and began taking off his boots. This planet was pathetically weak in all its creatures, but it allowed this world to become a paradise. No wonder the people here were so weak, they didn’t have to fight for anything. They didn’t have to struggle, so the threats they faced were so pathetic. Perhaps he was too rough on Kakarot, all things considered.

Raditz sighed; this world would surely spoil him, as well.

There was a  _ ka-click _ that Raditz recognized from earlier in the day, and he looked up. The oldest of the children, a boy, was holding a weapon and aiming it at Raditz. Raditz sighed.

“You know, your father and I already did this. But you’re just a kid, so I won’t do to you what I did to him,” Raditz said, “If you use that thing on me, I’ll do more than just injure your father. I’ll break a new bone in his body, one every hour, and make you watch. Your father will beg me to kill him, and you’ll be the only one I’ll let do it. Do you want to take that risk, boy? Do you want your father to suffer like that?”

The child’s lip quivered, and he ran down the hall with tears in his eyes. Raditz reached over and closed the door, leaned back on the bed, and groaned.

Oh there was  _ no way _ he was destroying this world, it was much too valuable as it was.


End file.
